A Journey Though Middle-Earth 2
by The Chuckinator
Summary: Fifteen years have passed and the Fourth Age of Middle-Earth has begun. The Dark Lord has returned, and Sonic, who is still a ghost, and his son, Shadic, must stop Shadow from taking over Middle-Earth or all will be lost. A RP with Fangs of Lightning
1. The Fourth Age

A Journey Through Middle-Earth 2

By Fangs of Lightning and The Chuckinator

Chapter 1: The Fourth Age  


Fifteen years had passed, and Sonic was raising Shadic in their house in Rohan. Sonic was still a ghost but at least Shadic could see him. Shadic had done everything he could to help the people of Rohan and take care of himself since he'd grown old enough to do so. As much as he loved him, Sonic could only do so much for him. Now, Shadic was stretching and waiting for Sonic to come back from exploring the town.

The ghost floated through the house and saw his son. He smiled and went up to him. "Hey, son. What's up?"

"Is there anything interesting outside the city, Dad?" Shadic asked. "I want to go out and do something like you did while you were alive."

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, there is. Shadow and I used to go on adventures together."

"Shadow's my other dad, isn't he?" Shadic had a thoughtful look on his face. "I want to do something amazing."

The ghost sighed. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Something like you did. Without the dying part." Shadic scratched the back of his head as he spoke.

Sonic chuckled and nodded. "Yeah...I wish I was still alive. But at least I can still be here as a ghost."

"How'd you die?" Shadic asked. "You never told me."

"I...I caught the Black Shadow. It's a disease from the Ringwraiths, the Nazgul. Shadow and Gandalf tried to save me but...they were too late."

Shadic's eyes widened as Sonic explained to him. "How'd you get it? Were you fighting a Nazgul?"

Sonic hesitated; he didn't want Shadic knowing the truth yet, so he nodded.

"Did he die afterwards?" Shadic hoped the Nazgul had.

"I don't think so; Nazgul can't die. They're immortal."

Shadic pouted and looked at the floor. "Well, he should've."

Sonic's eyes widened and he sighed; how was he going to tell his son that Shadow was the Nazgul?

Sonic's sigh confused Shadic. "Why'd you sigh? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing; I'll tell you later."

Shadic sighed then. His curiosity was piqued now. But when Sonic didn't want to tell him something, he couldn't get him to say it. "You think I can go out on an adventure? Maybe see Rivendell?"

"Sure," Sonic said.

Shadic nodded and smiled. A few minutes later, a knock came from the door. Sonic opened it and saw Gandalf, who looked worried.

"I believe Shadow's beginning to put his plans in motion," Gandalf said.

Sonic's eyes widened and motioned for Shadic to go to his room, who did so. When he was gone, Sonic looked at the wizard.

"What do you mean?" The ghost asked.

"Minions of the Dark Lord have been attacking people lately. Unless they're acting on their own, he's giving them commands."

Sonic sighed. "He probably is. We have to do something; Shadow could easily take over Middle-Earth. Whar are his minions doing exactly?"

"What minions of darkness do. Killing people and attacking cities."

"We have to do something.."

Gandalf nodded. "We need to figure out where Shadow is. That's the quickest way to stop him."

"Most likely he is in Mordor, or at Angband," Sonic said.

"Then that's where we should go."

Sonic nodded. "Shadic, can you come here?" He yelled.

A few minutes later, Shadic came out of his room and looked at them.

"What is it?" Shadic had a hopeful look in his eyes.

"We're going on...an adventure," Sonic told his son. "We need to stop the Dark Lord. You have your imortallity, shapeshifting and Chaos powers, so that will come in handy."

Shadic smiled in happiness. "I get to go on one? Are you coming with me? How hard is it going to be? Will the Dark Lord be defeated this time? What about..." Shadic was cut off before he could ask any more questions.

"Yes to all those questions."

Shadic tried to calm himself down and not make a fool of himself. At the age of seventeen, he knew he shouldn't act like that.

"What do we do first?" he asked, much calmer than the last few.

"First, we go to Rivendell to talk to Elrond," Sonic told him.

"I get to see Rivendell?" Shadic blushed and calmed himself again. "I mean, is he going to help us?"

Gandalf and Sonic nodded. "We should leave now; Rivendell will take five days to get there."

Shadic could barely contain his excitement as he helped them prepare for the trip. He'd been waiting a long time to go on an adventure.

"You're excited, aren't you?" Sonic asked his son.

Shadic beamed and nodded. "More excited than I've been my entire life!"

The ghost smiled. He looked at Gandalf, who nodded, and they went out of the house, ready to go on another adventure.


	2. The Adventure Begins

Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins

Shadic waved to everyone as they left Rohan. His excitement was enough to warrant chuckles from the townspeople. The three companions left Rohan and were on their way to Rivendell. Sonic stopped, thinking.

"Would you like me to transform into something and fly us there? It would be faster." He asked.

"I thought ghosts couldn't be touched," Shadic said. His expression was one of confusion.

Sonic chuckled. "I still have my shapeshifting powers even as a ghost. Whenever I transform, I become solid."

Shadic nodded frantically. "I want to. That'll be so fun."

"Alright," Sonic said. "Or you could transform."

Shadic thought about it. "I haven't tried to do much of that," he admitted. "How do I do it?"

"Just concentrate on the animal you want to turn into and you'll transform."

Shadic nodded. He closed his eyes, thought of a dragon, and began to transform. His eyes were squeezed shut in concentration. He gasped in pain as his body began shifting. A few minutes passed before a large dragon stood before them. He looked at Sonic and tried to speak but all that came out was a growl. Gandalf and Sonic got on the dragon, who flapped his wings and flew off towards Rivendell.

When they landed, Shadic transformed back into himself with a little difficulty. He gave the other two a grin and a thumbs-up. "That was harder than I'd been thinking."

"You'll get used to it."

Shadic looked around as they walked through Rivendell. He'd always wanted to see the elven city at an age he could actually remember seeing it. Now that he was there, it was just as beautiful as he'd been expecting.

"The elves build beautiful things," he said. "I wish other places could look like this."

Sonic smiled and nodded. He saw Elrond and floated up to him as Gandalf spoke.

"The Dark Lord is putting his plans in motion," Gandalf said.

Elrond's eyes widened. "We'll have to make sure that he doesn't succeed. We must have a Council and invite the people of Middle-Earth."

Gandalf nodded. "Where should it be held?"

"Here in Rivendell."

Gandalf looked at Sonic and Shadic. "Are you going to stay here or help send the message?"

Sonic thought about it and looked at his son. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to help out any way I can." Shadic looked at the others around him. "Where do we need to go?"

The ghost looked at Gandalf for an answer.

"We're going to need everyone in this council," the wizard said. "You get the human kings. I'll get the others."

Sonic nodded. "Alright; we'll go to the immediately."

Shadic looked at Sonic again. "Do I have to transform again?"

"If you want to, sure."

Shadic nodded and concentrated on turning into a giant eagle. Once he'd transformed, he came to the conclusion that it was a feeling he was never going to get used to. He looked at Sonic for direction. Despite living there his whole life, he had no idea where to go.

"Go to Rohan first," the ghost told him.

The eagle nodded and flew off towards Rohan to warn King Theoden. He landed outside the city and ran inside before stopping in the center.

"Isn't there something I have to do?" he asked. "I can't just walk up to a king and start talking to him."

Sonic walked up beside him. "Let's head to the palace," he said. "We'll talk to Theoden there."

"But, can we just walk up and talk to a king? I thought there were things you were supposed to do." Shadic followed behind Sonic as he spoke.

"Not really," his dad said.

Once they got to the palace, Theoden saw them and smiled. "Welcome," he said. "You've been living in my city, but I haven't heard anything from you."

Shadic was speechless, standing before Théoden.

"We have come with news," Sonic said. "The Dark Lord has returned, and Elrond wants you to come to Rivendell for a meeting."

"I'll be there as soon as possible," Théoden promised.

"Okay," Sonic nodded. "We'll see you there."

Theoden nodded and watched them leave.

Shadic's ears drooped as they left the building. He'd been useless. "I'm sorry," he told Sonic. "I froze up."

"It's fine," his dad said. "Let's head to Fornost now; it's near Bree, and it's run by King Elessar."

Shadic nodded. "Is it possible to just walk up to him too?" Shadic asked as they left Rohan.

The ghost nodded.

"Wow. I thought the kings wouldn't let just anybody near them," Shadic said. "What should I transform into this time?"

Sonic thought about it. "How about...a griffin?"

"A griffin?" Shadic shook his head a moment. "I don't think I..." Then he remembered how he'd transformed into a dragon. "I'll try." He closed his eyes and concentrated, then transformed. He shook a bit after the transformation was complete. the sensation was still strange, and the new form felt weirder than the last. Testing his movements, he looked at Sonic. He didn't know which direction Fornost was from there.

"Go west," Sonic said.

The griffin nodded and took off towards Fornost with Sonic riding on his back.


	3. Attacking Fornost

Chapter 3: Attacking Fornost

Shadic watched the ground as he flew, wondering how long it would take to get to Fornost. Every time he transformed, he had no idea how long he'd be able to hold it. He looked back at his father as he flew, wondering how the ghost was doing.

"I'm fine," his dad said. "This reminds me of when Shadow flew on my back in one of my forms."

Shadic wanted to ask Sonic more about Shadow. He didn't remember his other parent well. Just some vague images and what he'd gotten from Sonic. To this day he still didn't know how the other hedgehog had died. It was something he was curious about. Sonic smiled and watched him fly. Once they got to Fornost, Shadic landed and turned back to normal before looking at his father. He wanted to ask about Shadow.

"What happened to Shadow, anyway? No one ever told me." Shadic asked his father.

"He was...killed by Melkor, another Dark Lord," Sonic said. He didn't like lying to his son but he didn't want Shadic knowing the truth yet.

"Why can't I see him too?"

"He passed on to the Void; I chose to stay here."

"Why?" Shadic was endlessly curious about this. It didn't make sense to him for only one of his parents to stay.

"I...I wanted to make things right," Sonic said, turning away from his son.

Shadic was curious; he had a feeling his dad was hiding something.

"Why didn't he stay? What did you have to make right?" Shadic followed Sonic as his father went into town.

"I'll tell you everything when the time comes."

Shadic frowned at the words. Sonic was keeping something from him after all. He ignored that fact, telling himself it was probably for the best. They went inside the castle and saw King Elessar, who spoke.

"By your expression, I take it there's important news for me?" The king asked.

Shadic nodded and told him. "Elrond wishes to hold a council in Rivendell about the threat of the Dark Lord."

"I will be there."

One of the guards ran in as the two were turning to leave. "We're under attack!" he yelled.

The king's eyes widened. "By what?"

Around them, the others were already getting ready to go defend the townspeople.

"Orcs and Nazgul, among some other creatures," the guard said.

Shadic and Sonic looked at each other.

"We'll help." Shadic said.

Before anyone could say another word, he was running out of the palace along with Sonic.

The ghost gasped as he saw the attack. "Oh Shadow..." he muttered under his breath.

Shadic paused in his step when he saw what was happening. He had no idea what to do next. Transforming would probably be useful, though he had no idea what would help.

"Transforming would be best, right?" he asked his father.

Sonic nodded. He turned into a Balrog, and Shadic became a lion. Shadic did his best to avoid getting hit by anything. But he wasn't as fast as Sonic, nor as skilled. He used the weapons lions had to the best of his abilities, slashing with his claws and biting into orcs. Sonic used his whip to take care of tbe Nazgul. Shadic looked over each and every time he heard one of the Nazgul shriek. The Balrog let out a loud roar and cracked his whip, sending flames towards the Nazgul. They shrieked and backed away.

Shadic looked over in time to witness the Nazgul backing away. That was a good sign. He took it to mean they were winning this one. He took care of the rest of the orcs and watched the Balrog that was Sonic light the Nazgul on fire with his whip and ax. Shadic transformed back to his normal self as he watched. The Balrog continued until the Nazgul were gone. Then Sonic transformed back into a ghost and looked at him.

"That was cool!" Shadic said. "Do you think I could do that sometime?"

"Sure," Sonic said. "Our shapeshifting powers allow us to transform into anything, even inanimate objects and change genders."

"Change genders?" Shadic was confused at that one. He shrugged. "If I practice, will I be able to use it as well as you can?"

Sonic nodded and transformed into a female. "This is what I mean by changing genders."

Shadic stared. "Is that how I was created?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Guess that was kind of obvious." Shadic blushed and looked around. "Should we go to the next place or stay to make sure the people here don't need any more help?"

"Let's go to Minas Tirith," Sonic said. "I've heard it's been rebuilt."

Shadic looked at her and nodded. He transformed into a griffin once again and waited to see what Sonic was going to do. She walked up to him and grabbed his neck. Shadic smiled and flew into the air. Shadic looked around as he flew, keeping a lookout for Minis Tirith. He figured it wouldn't be that hard to find. What he was curious about was who was in charge.


	4. Entering Rivendell

Chapter 4: Entering Rivendell

Many hours later, they had reached Minas Tirith. Shadic turned back to normal and looked at his dad, wondering why Sonic was still in his female form.

"Why are you still a female?" He asked.

"I haven't been in this form for a while, so I'm going to stay like this for a bit," Sonic told him.

Shadic smiled. "Guess that makes you my mom now, huh." He started walking into Minis Tirith.

The ghost chuckled and followed him. Shadic looked around the city while they walked through it. It was impressive. They walked to the top of the city and went inside where they saw the king. Shadic bowed once he'd gotten a respectful distance from the king.

"Welcome to Minas Tirith," the king said.

Shadic nodded and spoke. "We have news, Your Majesty. The Dark Lord has begun putting his plans to conquer Middle Earth in motion. There's going to be a meeting in Rivendell to discuss how we should counter them." Shadic stood waiting for the king's reply.

"I shall be there," the king said.

Shadic nodded and he left with Sonic.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Shadic commented. "Is there anywhere else we need to go?"

Sonic thought about it. "I don't think so," she said. "Let's head back to Rivendell."

Shadic transformed again and took off once Sonic was safely on his back. The trip to Rivendell was longer than the first, but they arrived safely. Shadic was exhausted, but pleased with what he'd accomplished. Gandalf saw them and walked up when Shadic landed and turned back to normal.

"Did you get the message to them?" he asked. Shadic nodded. "All we can do now is wait for them to arrive."

"How long will that take?" Sonic asked.

Gandalf looked at her, surprised that she was a female again. "It could take anywhere between a few days to a week," Gandalf said. "They are aware of what's at stake. They won't take too long. If I may ask, why are you female yet again? I would've thought you'd avoid that form."

Sonic hesitated. "I haven't been a female for a while and decided to be one for a while."

Gandalf nodded. "I'm sure Elrond has a room you can use by now," he said. "Why don't you get some rest?"

The two hedgehogs nodded and walked into a room. Shadic looked at his father...or was it mother now...wondering what Gandalf meant by 'avoiding that form'.

"What did he mean?" Shadic asked. "When he said he thought you'd avoid that form?"

Sonic looked at him. "I was a female when I died," she said. "Also, I've had trouble changing back to male in this form. The last time I became female, I couldn't change back at all after a few days. "

"Oh," Shadic said. "I'd think the same thing if I knew all that." Shadic looked around the hall they were walking down. "What do you think my room's going to be like?"

"You'll find out."

A few minutes later they walked into the room. Shadic gasped.

"It's incredible!" he said. Shadic ran into the center of the room and looked around. "What's your room look like?"

"I'm going to be in here too," Sonic said.

Shadic sat on the bed with a smile. "That's great. At least you'll be close to me." Shadic was silent a minute before adding; "We've been here before, right? I wish I could remember it."

The ghost nodded. "Shadow and I came here with you when you were two years old, and left you in Elrond's care to go defeat Melkor. That was fifteen years ago."

"All I remember is crying a lot when the two of you left," Shadic said with a shake of his head. He looked around the room again. "Are you going to stay here the whole time, or go off somewhere?"

"I'm going to go somewhere soon. Don't worry; I'll be here for a while."

Shadic nodded and reached out, trying to touch Sonic. His hand went through Sonic's arm and he got a look of sadness on his face. Shadic dropped his arm and returned it to his bed.

"I wish I could touch you," Shadic said. "Do you think Dad misses me in the Void? I wish he'd been here for me."

"I'm not sure," Sonic said. "Most likely he does."

Shsdic nodded and tried touching his mother/father again. His hand went straight through her body. Shadic pouted as he watched his hand continue to go through her.

"Would I be able to touch you if you were an animal of some kind?" He asked. "Or does that only work when you're in a battle?"

"That works anytime," Sonic told him. "Want me to turn into a animal now?"

Shadic nodded. "Please."

Sonic smiled and transformed into a cat.

Shadic picked Sonic up and lay down on his bed, pulling her close to his chest. "Good night, mom."

The cat purred and curled up on Shadic's lap, going to sleep also.


	5. Cats for a Day

Chapter 5: Cats for a Day

They woke up hours later. Shadic stretched and yawned. Sonic woke up and continued to purr, rubbing her face across her son's. Shadic laughed at the feeling.

"I love you too, mom," he said. Wrapping his arms around her small form, he pulled her up and hugged her tightly. Sonic meowed. Shadic chuckled, wishing he could understand what her meow meant. He had an idea. Shadic closed his eyes and transformed into a cat. _What did that mean?_ He tried asking in cat language.

_It means, 'I love you',_ Sonic said.

Shadic nodded and began to purr, cuddling against his mother. He'd never had this much contact with his mother before, what with Sonic being dead and all. Now that he had it, he didn't want to lose it any time soon.

_Want to stay in this form for a while?_ Sonic asked.

Shadic nodded. _How long do you think we have until the others get here? Gandalf said a few days, after all._

_That will probably be the case._

Shadic purred happily. That meant he could have Sonic all to himself for a while longer. Sonic purred and started to lick her son's head. Shadic curled up where he'd been sitting and purred as his mother groomed him.

_You like this?_

Shadic nodded.

Sonic smiled. _Well then, let's spend the day as cats._

_Do we get to run around causing trouble for people too?_ Even as he asked, Shadic felt content staying right where he was.

_We can stay in our room for the day. Unless you want to take a look around._

Shadic thought about it and nodded. _It would be interesting to see this place from a different perspective._

_Alright,_ Sonic said. She hopped off the bed and onto the ground on all fours. Shadic followed her. _Let's go._

Shadic followed Sonic out of the room and into the hall. The two cats ran down the hall, racing to see who would reach the other end first. The winner should have been obvious. Sonic was the fastest. She looked back at her son and grinned.

_How are you so fast?_ Shadic asked. His breathing had quickened just from that run down the hall.

_I have super speed,_ Sonic said. _That's another thing you've inherited._

_You sure? You ran a lot faster than I could ever get myself to._

Sonic nodded. _You went the same speed as me when you were younger,_ she said.

The other cat looked at his mother. _I did? When? _If Shadic were still a hedgehog, he would have scratched his head. He found it hard to believe that he could go that fast. Especially since he couldn't seem to get himself to do it now.

_When you were younger, after we got back to Rohan._

_Then why won't I do it now?_ Shadic rubbed against a nearby wall as he spoke. There was an itch on his side, and he wasn't comfortable enough to try and scratch it properly.

_You can try and run that fast._

Shadic looked over at Sonic and nodded. Thinking hard about what he wanted, he started running back the way they'd came. The wall at the other end hit him before he quite realized how fast he'd been moving.

Sonic grinned. _Well, looks like you can run at my speed,_ she said.

The other cat looked at her and nodded, shocked. _I don't think I should do that too often,_ he said. Shadic moved a paw across the top of his head.

Sonic smirked. She picked him up by the scruff of his neck and they went back to their room. The female cat jumped up on the bed and started licking her son.

Shadic squirmed around. _What are you doing? I don't need to be cleaned._

Sonic stopped. _Just felt like it,_ she said. _Want to explore more?_

Shadic nodded. He followed his mother out of the room and they walked around Rivendell as cats. Shadic kept intentionally winding between people's feet, just to see what they would do. Gandalf and Elrond looked at the two cats curiously but knew they were Sonic and Shadic. They smiled.

_I really like this form a lot,_ Sonic said. _Do you?_

_It's fun,_ he said. Shadic rubbed against Gandalf's legs, purring. The wizard chuckled and bent down, petting him.

Shadic arched up into the wizard's hand. As a cat, he was adoring the attention he was getting. Gandalf smiled and continued to pet him. Shadic purred loudly and walked back to Sonic.

_Hey, how about we stay in this form until the others get here?_ Sonic asked her son.

_Sure. What should we do now?_

Sonic thought about it. _What do you want to do?_

Shadic thought about it as well, looking up at the ceiling as he did so. His ear twitched and he looked at Sonic. _Can we find something to eat? I'm hungry._

The female cat nodded and bounded off, searching for food. Shadic smiled and followed her. Once he saw how Sonic got something, he'd do it himself.

They wandered into the forest, searching for prey. Shadic watched his mother carefully. Every movement she made, he mimicked. There wasn't any better way to learn how to hunt. A few minutes later, they saw some mice. Their tails twitched, and the two cats pounced. Once landing on the mouse, Shadic didn't have to look at Sonic to know what to do. Being a cat was influencing him, and some things came naturally to him. He killed the mouse and ate it as Sonic did the same thing. He was really enjoying this form.

_Being a cat is awesome,_ Sonic told him. _I wouldn't mind having this form permanently. Would you?_

Shadic hesitated and then smiled, nodding at her. _We have to help the people of Middle-Earth, though._

_I know,_ Sonic said.

_We could take on this form again after that,_ Shadic said.

The female cat nodded. Shadic looked back at Rivendell and wondered if anyone had shown up yet. They walked back but saw that no one had arrived yet. Sonic looked at her son and smiled.

_It looks like no one is here yet. Want to have some more fun in these forms until they show up? _Sonic asked.

Shadic nodded eagerly. The female cat walked up to him, purring. Shadic purred as well, rubbing his face on his mother's. The two cats ran back to their room and jumped on the bed, lying down and going to sleep.


	6. The Dark Lord's Plan

Chapter 6: The Dark Lord's Plan

The two spent the next few days running around Rivendell as the people needed for this council arrived one at a time. Soon, everyone arrived and the two returned to normal.

"What do you think the plans are going to be?" Shadic asked.

"I'm not sure," Sonic said. "Let's find out."

Shadic and Sonic hurried to the meeting room where the fellowship had been formed fifteen years ago. This time, all the rulers of Middle-Earth were there.

They sat down next to Elrond and Gandalf, and waited for them to speak.

"As you know, the Dark Lord has begun attacking our cities," Elrond said. "We need to come up with a plan to counter him."

Sonic nodded. "What shall we do? He is very powerful."

"We must divide our forces," one of the kings said.

"That is a good idea," Theoden said.

The other people nodded, and Gandalf spoke. "We need to decide how we are going to divide. Some of us need to help defend the people of Middle-Earth. Others will have to attack him at his fortress."

"Shadic and I can go to his fortress," Sonic said.

Gandalf nodded. "Legolas and I will join you."

"We can spare at least one of our armies to distract his minions and make your entrance easier." The king looked around at the others. "The rest of us can defend our people."

Gandalf looked at Elrond, who nodded in agreement.

"Once we decide how exactly we'll be doing this, you should get some rest," Elrond said.

The group nodded and continued to listen, wondering what the Dark Lord was planning.

* * *

Shadow sat on his throne in Angband, staring at the ring on his finger. He knew it was powerful but wanted even more power. The Dark Lord smirked; he had to make this into the One Ring. Shadow got up and paced around the room. He just had to figure out how to make it the One Ring. Melkor and Sauron were both dead; he couldn't ask them. Then it came to him: he could put some of his soul into it. Shadow smirked evilly.

"Now, how do I put my soul into the ring?" Shadow asked the room. "I've never tried something like that before." He shook his head as the room obviously didn't answer him. "No matter. There's bound to be something in this fortress that can tell me."

He closed his eyes, wondering if the Witch King could help him.

_Do you know how to bind a part of my soul with the ring?_ He asked telepathically.

The Witch King spoke. _You could summon his spirit and he could tell you. You are a necromancer, after all._

Shadow wanted to smack himself for his stupidity. "Of course I can," he muttered angrily. He summoned Sauron's spirit and spoke to him. "I want to bind a section of my soul to the ring."

Sauron grinned and nodded, then spoke to the Dark Lord. "So you wish for even more power. Very well."

Shadow nodded as Sauron told him what to do. The pain he felt shoot through him caused him to grimace. Pain was something he hadn't felt in a long time. The flow of energy into the ring brought a smile to his face after a moment. He closed his eyes in concentration and poured his soul into the ring. Sauron chuckled as he watched. Shadow had gone down the path of darkness as he'd said he would. Now, he was more powerful than either Dark Lord had imagined. The Dark Lord looked at the ghost of Sauron and nodded in thanks. An encryption formed on Shadow's ring and he knew that he had made another One Ring.

"It's only a matter of time," Shadow said. "Middle-Earth will fall to the power of this ring." He smirked before looking over to one of the windows. He chuckled evilly and watched Sauron vanish. "Now, where should I begin?" he asked himself. The Dark Lord grinned and thought about enslaving the people of Middle-Earth. "No doubt they're thinking of some way to stop me," he said. "They won't succeed. My army is too great to be defeated."

Shadow turned from the window and hurried to find one of his commanders. Once he gave the orders, Middle-Earth would be his. He walked up to the Nazgul and spoke to them.

"We are going to conquer Middle-Earth," he said. "Take your forces and attack the humans. If they're busy trying to defend themselves, they won't be able to organize any of their forces against us."

The Nazgul nodded and left. Shadow called his other minions to him.

"I want you to attack the dwarves and elves. They must be conquered as well." Shadow turned to address another group of them. "Don't let anything into this fortress. I will join the fight when I see fit."

The Orcs and other evil creatures left without a word. Shadow sat down and looked at rthe One Ring. With this, he would be unstoppable.

"Nobody will be able to even think of getting close to me." He smirked again. "I won't fall like the others did."

He chuckled and thought of what was going to happen during his reign as Dark Lord. Everything would be his to command. All the races and creatures would have no choice but to do his bidding. Shadow grinned evilly, knowing that when he conquered Middle-Earth, everything would change.


	7. Telling the Truth

Chapter 7: Telling the Truth

Shadic yawned and stretched. Everything yesterday had tired him out. They hadn't figured out where the Dark Lord was yet, and he was honestly more than a little worried about going. He stood up and looked around, wondering where Sonic was.

"Mom?" He called. "Where are you?" Shadic got out of bed and looked around the room.

Shadic walked out of the room and down the hall. He saw Sonic talking to Gandalf.

"That's where the monsters are coming from," Gandalf was saying.

Sonic nodded. "Hey, I was wondering...is it possible for me to transform into a living version of myself?"

Gandalf shook his head. "I'm sorry Sonic. It can't be done."

"Why not?"

"The dead can never really come back. You can remain as a ghost. No more."

Sonic sighed and nodded. "Can you at least transform someone into me permanently?"

Gandalf nodded. "Legolas has actually been interested in doing that."

Shadic approached, wondering if he should say something.

Sonic looked at him and smiled. "Hey, how'd you sleep?" She asked.

"Fine," Shadic said. Ignoring what he'd just overheard, he asked what was bothering him instead. "Do we know where we're going yet?"

"Angband."

"How long will that take?" Shadic asked. He doubted they'd be able to simply fly there.

"A few months."

Shadic nodded. "Will Middle-Earth be able to hold out that long?"

Sonic hesitated; she wasn't sure. "Probably," she said.

Gandalf walked up to Sonic with Legolas and spoke. "Legolas has agreed," Gandalf said. "When did you want to?"

"Right now would work."

Gandalf nodded. "Are you both ready?" They nodded, and he cast the spell.

Legolas grimaced and began to transform. Shadic's eyes widened as he witnessed Legolas become Sonic. The ghost Sonic looked at her son and smiled. Legolas groaned and looked at her new body. Shadic was confused as he looked between the two.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Why's Legolas look like my mom now?"

Gandalf smiled and told him. "Legolas has, in a way, become Sonic now."

Shadic's eyes widened and he smiled. "That's great."

Legolas smiled also and nodded. She looked at her new body in happiness. "Will I have a mental change? And why did I become a female version of Sonic?"

"I imagine it's because that is the form he's in now," Gandalf said. "As for your mind, it may change over time."

Legolas nodded. "That is fine. When will I become Sonic completely?"

Gandalf thought about it before answering. "Sometime before we reach Angband, I think."

"Great."

The ghost Sonic spoke up. "What will happen to me?"

Gandalf looked at her. "Since it's your mind, you'll most likely become part of Legolas."

Sonic nodded. "So, I'll fuse with her?"

"Is it possible for Shadow to come back that way too?" Shadic's voice was low. He almost didn't want to ask.

Sonic's eyes widened and he looked at Gandalf, who shook his head. "We already did that."

Shadic looked confused once more. "But if you already did that, wouldn't he be here?"

Gandalf sighed. "We should tell him," he told Sonic. "At his age, I'm sure he can handle it."

Sonic sighed and nodded. "Son...I haven't been honest with you. Shadow never died. He was the Nazgul who killed me. It was an accident, and he became Melkor's servant to try and bring me back. He...he is the Dark Lord."

Shadic's eyes widened. "Dad's the Dark Lord?" He blinked a few times, looking around the hall. "How am I supposed to go against my own father?"

Gandalf thought about it. "He's not the same any more," he explained. "After Melkor died, he was completely possessed by the ring. Focus on that."

Shadic nodded and turned away. He hung his head sadly and started to cry, then went back to his room.

"We should wait until he's calmed down," Legolas said.

Sonic nodded. "I'll go after him," she said.

The blue hedgehog nodded and watched Sonic leave before looking at Gandalf. "He needed to know, but I'm not sure that was the best idea."

Gandalf nodded sadly.

Legolas came up with an idea. "Can you make the mental change now? If I'm going to be Sonic, I'd like to comfort my son."

The wizard thought about it. "I could try."

"I have Sonic's shapeshifting powers and his immortality, right?"

"You have his body, so yes."

Legolas nodded. "Cast the mental change spell, then."

Gandalf focused his power and cast the spell on Legolas. The blue hedgehog grunted and felt her mind change. Gandalf waited for the change to be complete before speaking. "You should check on your son now."

Sonic nodded and walked off. When she entered the room, she saw that Sonic's ghost shone brightly and fused with her. Shadic looked up and smiled halfheartedly.

"I'll be fine," he said. "Gandalf's right."

Sonic smiled and sat down next to him. "I should have told you earlier but I wanted to protect you."

Shadic sniffed and wiped his face. "I guess I should've known something was up," he said. "You always seemed to avoid telling me everything."

"Well, at least you know now."

Shadic nodded. "If you can fight him, I shouldn't have much of a problem." Shadic smiled. "He was your lover, after all."

"Yeah, he was. I just wonder if there's any way to bring him back to the light."

Shadic looked at the bed. "I hope so. It would be nice to have my both my parents with me." He paused. "Even if I am seventeen."

Sonic smiled and rubbed her son's back. "We'll be going soon. Are you ready?"

Shadic nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Alright," Sonic said. She stood up and walked out of the room as Shadic followed him. They looked at Gandalf, who nodded.

"I'm ready," Shadic said.

Gandalf nodded and he, Sonic and Shadic started off towards Angband.


	8. One Ring to Rule Them All

Chapter 8: One Ring to Rule Them All  


Shadow's minions were everywhere out of the city. Just as when Sauron had been trying to take control, they couldn't go anywhere without being attacked. The Dark Lord's influence was covering Middle-Earth.

"Sha...the Dark Lord's this powerful?" Shadic asked. "How are we supposed to beat him?"

"We are not sure," Gandalf said.

"We'll think of something when we get there." He tried to sound enthusiastic.

Sonic and Gandalf nodded, and continued on. It took them a few months, as Gandalf had said. Once they got to Angband, they looked around.

"Certainly looks like a place of darkness," Shadic muttered. "How are we going to get in?"

Sonic thought about it. She closed his eyes and transformed into a Nazgul. Shadic backed away, startled.

"It's fine," Sonic said. "I'm still myself. Here's the plan..."

Shadic was nervous. Sonic knew what she was doing, he didn't doubt that. But he couldn't help it. Once Sonic explained the plan, they nodded and went inside. Shadic looked around as Sonic lead them through the halls. Soon, they came to a room that was filled with Orcs and other fell creatures. Shadic looked at his mother, wondering what to do next.

"What do we do now?" he whispered.

Sonic thought about it and transformed back to normal, looking at her son. "I shall transform into the One Ring; it will make you invisible. You can wear me on your finger."

Shadic nodded but Gandalf spoke up. "Are you certain that will work? He is a Dark Lord. He may be able to see him."

"The One Ring only worked with Sauron," Sonic told the wizard. "Shadow doesn't have it anyway; we destroyed the ring."

Gandalf looked uncertain still. "You're certain it will work the way it's intended?"

Sonic sighed. "It wouldn't hurt to try, but..."

Shadic looked at his mother and nodded.

"I'll watch out for danger," he said. "Where am I supposed to go?"

Gandalf looked at Shadic and replied. "We need to find the Dark Lord. Once you do that, Sonic can tell you what to do."

Shadic nodded and looked at Sonic, who began to transform. Sonic hissed as her body twisted in a way it wasn't meant to. All her color turned gold as he slowly became metal. Sonic shrank in size, engravings writing themselves across her form. Once she'd fallen to the floor, the energy of the One Ring enveloped her. Shadic picked the ring up and looked at Gandalf.

"Are you going to put it on?" Gandalf asked. He wasn't sure still if Shadow would sense the ring.

Shadic nodded and slipped the ring onto his finger. Instantly, he vanished and looked at the ring. His eyes widened as he saw it starting to glow.

"What's happening?" he asked.

The One Ring continued to glow brightly. He looked at it and walked around, feeling it growing heavier with each step he took towards the Dark Lord. Suddenly he grunted in pain and fell to the ground. Shadic looked at the ring again, one eye closed in pain. He looked around in confusion.

"Mom," he whispered. "What's happening?"

Everything around him turned into shadow and grew dark. Shadic felt fear rising inside him as he looked around. He saw a menacing laughter and looked up. His eyes widened when he saw the Dark Lord. Despite his mouth hanging open, Shadic couldn't say what was on his mind.

The Dark Lord saw the ring on Shadic's finger and sneered, then spoke. "The One Ring was destroyed," he said. "Surely you didn't think you could fool me that easily."

Shadic gulped. Suddenly, Shadow closed his eyes and poured the rest of his soul into the ring that Sonic had transformed into. He opened his eyes and laughed.

"What did you do?" Shadic asked. Shadic tried to pull the ring off his finger, shocked to find that he couldn't.

"My soul now resides in that ring forever," Shadow said. "You can never take it off. Slowly, it will corrupt you until you have become my apprentice."

"What about mother?" Shadic asked. All his mind was focused on was the effect it would have on Sonic.

The Dark Lord chuckled and spoke. "Your mother?" The Dark Lord looked at the ring. "I imagine she's going to remain in that form for the rest of her life."

Shadic's eyes widened in fear and looked at the ring on his finger. It glowed brightly and the markings did also. Shadow began to chant in Black Speech and suddenly the ring was giving off an evil aura. Futilely, he tried to pull his ring off again. He looked at Shadow as he did so, unable to believe that was his father. The ring wouldn't come off. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge. The Dark Lord grinned and vanished in a flash of light. Shadic groaned and fell to the ground, unconscious.


	9. A Major Setback

Chapter 9: A Major Setback

Shadic reappeared laying flat on the floor. Rushing over, Gandalf turned him and looked him over. A quick spell had Shadic's eyes opening as he returned to consciousness.

"What happened?" Gandalf asked.

The teenage hedgehog groaned and stood up, remembering what happened. He looked at Gandalf, speaking with urgency. "I ran into the Dark Lord. He put something into the ring, and spoke in some other language. He said I'd become corrupted, and mom won't come back again." Shadic's eyes filled with tears as he spoke.

Gandalf's eyes widened and he looked at the ring on Shadic's finger. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The wizard felt the evil inside it and frowned. Looking at Shadic, he shook his head sadly.

"He's right," he said. "I don't think there's anything we can do now."

Shadic's eyes widened in fear. "But..." Shadic looked down at the ring again. "But my mom..."

"Shadow is...or was...your father...but he is now the Dark Lord and is very evil. I do not know if we can bring him back to the light. As for Sonic, I am afraid that she is now the One Ring forever. There is nothing I can do."

Shadic looked down at the floor. Fiddling with the ring, he sighed. "Is there some way I can stop myself from becoming like him?"

Gandalf nodded.

"What is it?"

"You have a strong will, Shadic. That will help you from becoming evil, and resist the power of the ring."

Shadic sighed and looked at the One Ring that had been Sonic. An idea came to him and he looked at Gandalf. Perhaps the wizard could transform himself into Sonic. "Could you turn into Sonic?" he asked. "At least for a few minutes?"

Gandalf nodded. He closed his eyes and began to transform. Once it was done, Sonic stood before Shadic. Shadic smiled at him.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, Do you want this to be permanent, or temporary?"

Shadic shook his head. "Temporary. I am seventeen. I should be fine without my mother."

Gandalf nodded. "Are you sure?"

Shadic hesitated and thought about it. His eyes filled with tears as he thought about what had happened. Finally, he sighed and looked at the blue hedgehog. "I'm sure." Shadic looked at the floor again. His fingers moved to the ring again, and he looked at it. "She'll be with me in this form."

The blue hedgehog nodded. "Well, I'll stay in this form permanently. I happen to like it. You are right in saying that your mother will be with you, as she is the One Ring now."

Shadic smiled. "Do you think she'll be able to help me?"

"Perhaps," Gandalf said. "But now that she is the One Ring, remember that Shadow has poured his soul into it, making it evil."

"Right. So she won't be able to help me with much." Shadic said. "You think Shadow would have had an affect on how Sonic acts?"

"Most likely he will."

Shadic nodded, and thought about what Gandalf had said. Perhaps the wizard could become Sonic permanently. The more he thought about it, it would be a good idea. He looked at the hedgehog and spoke.

"What about your personality?" he asked.

"It will change to Sonic's over time."

Shadic nodded. "If you really want to, I suppose you could."

Gandalf nodded. "I shall do that, then."

Shadic smiled and nodded. He looked at the ring on his finger that used to be his mother. He was upset that she was stuck as a ring, but he knew she would've been upset with him if he allowed himself to become evil like his father. He'd do his best to resist. He looked at the hedgehog that Gandalf had transformed into, wondering where they were going to next.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

"We must find out what the Dark Lord is planning," Gandalf said.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Shadic asked. "He'll see us coming."

"Use your shapeshifting powers," Gandalf said. "Transform into something like an Orc or Nazgul."

Shadic swallowed in nervousness. He figured an Orc would get closer to the Dark Lord. He sighed and started to turn into an Orc. Shadic shuddered as he felt his features change to fit an Orc's. Once he was done, he looked at Gandalf for the next step.

"Go inside and get near the Dark Lord. Eavesdrop on him and see what his plan is. I will stay here."

Shadic nodded and went inside Angband. He looked around as he walked through the halls. None of the others paid much attention to him as he walked around. Soon, he came near the throne room and heard the Dark Lord speak.

"Have the humans fallen yet?" The Dark Lord was speaking in a high, agitated tone.

"We are close, Master," a Nazgul said.

Shadow grinned and looked at the One Ring on his finger. "Good. What about the elves and dwarves?"

"They are fighting back," the Nazgul said. "There will be a war soon."

The Dark Lord nodded. "One we will win." The Dark Lord looked at his ring again. "Perhaps I should join this time. It might be fun after all this time." The Nazgul nodded. "With the One Ring that you have, you shall be unstoppable."

Shadic heard this and gasped, then ran back to Gandalf. "He's planning on joining the battle!" Shadic yelled as soon as he'd gotten back to the wizard. "He has a One ring, too. I'm, not sure how, since the name implies there's only one, but-"

Gandalf's eyes widened in hear. "He must have put his soul into Melkor's ring," Gandalf said. "This is very bad. We must do something."

"What can we do?" Shadic asked. "It can't be that easy to destroy something like that."

The blue hedgehog thought about it. "The Silmarils could possibly work," he said.

Shadic nodded. He remembered that Shadow said something about Dagor Dagorath also.

"He also said something about Dagor Dagorath," he said. "Where are the Silmarils?"

"They are three jewels that contain light," the wizard said. "They are very powerful. And Dagor Dagorath is the End of Days."

Shadic frowned. "He's trying to destroy everything? Can we find the Silmarils before he does that?"

"Perhaps," the blue hedgehog said. "Shadow, Sonic and I found them fifteen years ago while trying to defeat Melkor. We will have to search for them again, though."

Shadic sighed. Another quest wasn't something he was looking forward to. "I don't think I like these after all. Where do we go first?"

Gandalf smiled. "Immortals can sense the Silmarils, Shadic. Because you are immortal, you can sense them. Close your eyes and concentrate."

Shadic closed his eyes. "Concentrate on what?"

"Concentrate on the Silmaril's energy and you will be able to tell where they are." Shadic nodded and thought about the Silmarils. It took a few moments before he felt something to the west. He looked over there.

"That way. I think."

Gandalf nodded. Now that he was Sonic, he had all the powers that Sonic had. "Let's go," he said, and transformed into an eagle.

Shadic smirked and closed his eyes, then transformed into a phoenix. The two flew to the west in search of the Silamril.


	10. Silmarils

Chapter 10: Silmarils

Soon, they had reached the west coast of Middle-Earth. Shadic looked around. "Where is it?"

He and Gandalf landed, turning back to normal. Shadic concentrated, and soon sensed it in the water.

"It's in the water," he said. "Should I transform into something and look for it?"

Gandalf nodded. Shadic closed his eyes and began to transform into a sea serpent. Blue scales covered Shadic's fur; his hands merged with his body and his legs and feet pushed together to form a tail and his face pushed out into a muzzle with the teeth sharpened into long, poisonous fangs. Shadic's ears disappeared and his eyes changed color to a reptilian yellow and narrowed into slits. His body grew bigger until he resembled a large sea serpent.

Shadic dove into the water and searched for the Silmaril. A few minutes later, he had found the Silmaril. Shadic swam upwards until he reached the surface and turned back to normal.

"I got it," he said. "What do we do with it now?"

"Find the other two," Gandalf said.

Shadic nodded and concentrated again. He sensed one in the Undying Lands, far away on an island.

"There's one on an island in that direction." Shadic pointed in the direction he'd sensed the Silmaril.

The blue hedgehog nodded and transformed into a dragon. Shadic got on his back and they flew towards the island. When they got there, he turned back to normal and Shadic saw the Silmaril in the sky.

"Should I get that one too, or will you do it?"

Gandalf turned into a hawk and grabbed the Silmaril. Shadic concentrated on the last one as Gandalf got the one above them. When the other had landed again, he pointed in the direction he'd found it. They went to the place where the Silmarils were made and Shadic pointed to a tree.

"It's there," he said.

Gandalf nodded and took the Silmaril out of the tree. Suddenly, all three Silmarils glowed brightly.

"What are they doing?" Shadic stared at them.

"They are reacting to each other," the blue hedgehog said. "Now let us join this war and try to defeat the Dark Lord."

Shadic released a shaky breath. "Where is he?"

"Most likely he is in Angband. We must head back there."

Shadic shifted into an eagle again and flew off with Gandalf close behind him. Once they got to Angband, they saw that it was abandoned. Shadic's eyes widened and he looked around. Soon, the One Ring on his finger shone brightly and he groaned in pain. Shadic looked at the ring in pain. What was going on? A vision appeared of Shadow in Mordor; the fortress of Barad-Dur had been rebuilt. Shadic looked around in shock.

"How did I get here?" he asked.

Shadow saw him and grinned, then laughed madly. Shadic backed away a step. He looked around, trying to figure out how to get back. The Dark Lord looked at Shadic and spoke.

"Our fortress has been rebuilt," he said.

Shadic's eyes widened in fear and gulped. Suddenly, the vision ended and he stood up, panting. "He's in Mordor," he said. "It's been rebuilt." He looked up at Gandalf. "There's a huge army there. Shouldn't we get everyone else into this too?"

The blue hedgehog nodded. "We must go back to Rivendell and inform Elrond and the others."

Shadic nodded before once again transforming. Gandalf transformed also, and the two headed towards Rivendell. When they got there, they turned back to normal and ran up to Elrond.

"Mordor's been rebuilt!" Shadic yelled.

Elrond's eyes widened in fear and he sighed in exasperation. "We must be prepared," he said. "The Dark Lord could attack any minute."

He looked at the blue hedgehog that was Gandalf. "You've changed as well?"

Gandalf nodded and explained what happened when they were in Angband.

Elrond nodded. "I see." He sighed. "This is worse than I thought. What shall we do?"

"We should take the fight to him," Gandalf said. "We need to get everyone ready to kill him and save everyone."

"We don't have much time."

"Shadic also overheard him say that Dagor Dagorath will start."

Elrond's eyes widened in fear and he looked at Shadic. Shadic nodded before Elrond could say anything. "If Dagor Dagorath is about to start, there is nothing we can do except defeat the Dark Lord."

Shadic looked at his ring for strength. He could fight his father. Shadow wasn't himself. He needed to be defeated. Mom would've wanted that. "How can I help?"

"You can help us defeat him," Gandalf said. "Maybe the ring you have will give you strength."

Shadic held the hand with the ring on it tightly. "I hope so."

"So, that ring used to be Sonic?" Elrond asked. "Why did he transform into the One Ring?"

"So I could get close to the Dark Lord," Shadic said. "It made it so I could be invisible."

"But something went wrong."

"Yeah. Shadow found me." Shadic looked at the ring again. "He put some of his soul into Sonic, and now his power's trying to corrupt me."

Elrond sighed and nodded. "We must defeat him before he takes over Middle-Earth. Our armies will march to Mordor and then the war will begin."

The two of them nodded before joining the elves.


	11. Split Personality

Chapter 11: Split Personality

Gandalf looked at Shadic and smiled. Soon, he clutched his head in pain and knew that the mental change had begun.

Shadic looked at the wizard. "What's wrong?" he asked.

The blue hedgehog stood up and looked at him. "Nothing, son. I'm fine."

"Mom?"

Sonic nodded. He transformed into a female and looked at her son. "Yes, it's me."

"So this ring is just an evil ring now?" Shadic asked.

Sonic shook her head. "That ring is still me just corrupted with evil."

"So how are you here?"

"Gandalf permanently transformed himself into me, remember? He said there would be a mental change. Just think of the ring as another part of me."

"Like, the evil side?" Shadic nodded at his own suggestion. "Maybe I'll just think of it that way."

Sonic sighed. "Kind of."

Shadic nodded and looked at the ring. He tried to take it off but it was permanently stuck on his finger. Already he could feel its evil power starting to take hold. "How do you resist the evil powers of a ring?" Shadic frowned as he said it. It sounded silly when put like that.

Sonic smiled. "Through will," she said. "It wasn't easy, though."

"You think I have enough willpower to do it?"

"You bet," Sonic told him. "So...are you ready to face your father?"

Shadic looked down. As far as he was concerned, Shadow was no longer his father. "He's not my father." He looked back up at Sonic. "He stopped being that the moment he became the Dark Lord."

Sonic looked shocked but nodded. "I agree," she said. "We must do everything in our power to stop him but that is not going to be easy. He has made another ring, and I'm not talking about the one on your finger."

"How do we stop someone with one of these rings?"

"I am not sure. The Silmarils might help."

"Are they strong enough to stop his evil power?" Shadic asked.

"We could try," Sonic said. "Anyway, we must get to Mordor soon."

Shadic nodded and looked at the ring on his finger again, then back to his mother. "Will its powers get stronger as we get closer to Mordor?" Despite what his mother said, Shadic was worried he didn't have enough willpower to resist it's temptations forever.

Sonic nodded. "It happened to me when I got closer to that evil land."

"What'll you do if I give in?" Shadic asked. "I don't want to follow his footsteps."

Sonic hesitated and sighed. "I don't know," she said. "I'd be devastated."

Shadic nodded. Suddenly, the ring on his finger started to glow and hit Sonic, who screamed in pain. She fell to the floor, clutching her head, and turned back into a male. Then he stood up.

"That was interesting," Gandalf said. "It appears that your ring has made Sonic a split personality of me."

Shadic stood in shock. He looked from the ring back to Gandalf. "So, you're going to keep switching on me?"

"I don't know. That ring is Sonic, after all."

Shadic touched his ring again and sighed. "Will you be able to kill me if I switch sides?" His voice was low and he refused to look at the other. "I don't want to turn out like Shadow."

The blue hedgehog's eyes widened and he sighed, looking at Shadic. "You won't switch sides," Gandalf said. "You've got your parents' willpower."

Shadic sighed in relief and nodded. "How long do you think we have to kill him?"

Gandalf thought about it. "I am not sure," he said. "The Dark Lord is very strong and if he succeeds he could usher in a new age of terror. But...do you really want to kill your own father?"

Shadic stiffened as Gandalf asked. "I'm fine with killing him," he said. "He's not my father anymore, anyway."

The blue hedgehog nodded. "Just don't change your mind later."

Shadic looked at the blue hedgehog, wondering why he chose to stay in that form. "Comfortable like that?" he asked.

Gandalf smiled. "Like I said before, I've made this form permanent. I really like it."

Shadic smiled a little. "At least it'll help you out in battle." He looked at the wizard again before adding; "Not that your magic wasn't helpful before. I just meant that with the powers dad has...had..."

The hedgehog grinned and gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry about me; I'll be fine. It's Shadow we need to worry about," he said with a cocky attitude.

Shadic chuckled; it seemed Sonic's personality was slowly taking over Gandalf's. The two continued walking a few minutes before Shadic spoke again. "About Shadow's powers. Since they're dark, the Silmarils should be able to counteract them, right?"

"It is possible. But when I used them on Shadow before fifteen years ago, they failed because the darkness inside him was too great."

Shadic frowned. If the darkness had been too great fifteen years ago, he doubted the Silamrils could do anything now.

He sighed and looked at Gandalf. Was there anything else they could do? He doubted it. The best course of action seemed to be to defeat, and possibly kill, the Dark Lord. Shadic just hoped the Silmarils did something useful in the battle. It would turn out to be a waste of time if they didn't.


	12. Cheetahs and Wolves

Chapter 12: Cheetahs and Wolves  


A few minutes later, a massive earthquake could be felt all over Middle-Earth. Shadic looked at Gandalf in confusion. He nearly fell onto the floor from the force of the shaking.

"Is that Shadow's doing?" Shadic asked.

Gandalf gasped, and grabbed on to something. "I'm afraid it is. Dagor Dagorath is almost upon us."

"Already?" Shadic shouted. He fell onto the floor and puled himself up again. "I thought we were supposed to beat him before this happened!"

"It is prophesied that during the End of Days there is a great war between a powerful Dark Lord, one that could plunge the world into darkness if not defeated. We all thought that it would be Melkor but..."

"But Shadow killed him and took his place."

"We need to get to Mordor and end this once and for all," Gandalf said.

Shadic nodded in agreement. Once the shaking had stopped, they began hurrying to Mordor. Gandalf transformed into a wolf and Shadic turned into a cheetah. With both of them having the speed Sonic was known for, they made great time. Shadic skid to a halt. He looked around to see what the situation was. Gandalf stopped also and looked around. The two were almost to Mordor and had to go through many mountains and valleys to get there. Many Orcs, goblins and cave trolls could be seen roaming around.

_How long do you think it'll be before anyone else gets here?_ Shadic asked the wolf. He was looking around, unsure of what their next action should be.

Gandalf looked at him._ Probably in a few days,_ he said, and lay down with his head on his paws.

The cheetah nodded and lay down next to the Gandalf.

_Are we going to wait here?_ Shadic laid his head down and looked at the wolf.

_I suppose so. we need to find shelter so we won't be seen, though. Until they get here, we can spend the next few days in these forms._

Shadic nodded. He looked around for a cave they could stay in. _Should we try to check out the area at all?_

The wolf stood up and walked around, looking for any caves. Soon, he saw once and went inside. Shadic followed him. Once they were ready, the two laid down to rest. Gandalf yawned as did Shadic, and the two animals fell asleep.

* * *

Shadic woke later feeling hungry. He looked at Gandalf and wondered if he should wake the other up as well. He nudged the wolf with a paw, who woke and looked at him.

_I'm hungry,_ Shadic said. _But I have no idea what could be safe to eat here._

_There is plenty of wildlife around here,_ Gandalf said.

Shadic shifted uncomfortably. He looked at the opening to the cave and back to Gandalf.

_I wasn't sure what would be fine to eat, though. With all the dark stuff around, and the monsters, and everything. Who knows what they might do to my body?_

_There's a forest nearby. We could hunt there,_ Gandalf said. _Follow me._

He ran out of the cave with Shadic following him. Soon, they came to the forest.

Shadic looked around for something he could attack. Moving away from Gandalf, he kept up his search. The two saw some deer not far from them and crouched low, getting ready to pounce. Shadic waited for the right moment before leaping onto the animal's back. The wolf and cheetah pounced, dragging the herd of deer to the ground and killing them.

Once Shadic was done eating, he sighed. There was a lot more killing that needed to be done soon enough. He almost didn't feel right killing the deer at a time like this.

Gandalf ate another deer and looked at him. _What's wrong?_

_Just thinking,_ he said. At Gandalf's look, he continued. _We're going to be killing a lot of things pretty soon. It almost seems a shame we killed these deer too._ Shadic nudged one nearby with his paw. _Even if I am going to eat it._

The wolf nodded. Shadic resumed eating the deer before looking back at Gandalf again. _You think Shadow knows we're here?_

_I have no idea,_ the wolf said. _It is possible he does because of the ring, but I am not sure. _Shadic sighed again. Sometimes, he wished he could sense these things. It would've helped on more than one occasion. _We should head back,_ Gandalf said. _Unless you want to hang around here in the forest for a while._

Shadic thought about it; the latter would work. _I think I'd want to stay here for a while,_ he said. _Seeing a cave would get boring._

The wolf nodded. _Alright,_ Gandalf said. _Let's roam around the forest._

Shadic and Gandalf roamed the forest for a while, trying not to think of what was ahead. Despite what he had said, Shadic wasn't sure he'd be able to fight Shadow. The ring on his finger was corrupted by the Dark Lord. If he could control that corruption, Shadic would be at an even worse disadvantage.

_You don't suppose Shadow could use my own ring against me...do you?_

_It is highly possible,_ he said. _Since Shadow transferred his soul into that ring that Sonic transformed into..._

Shadic whimpered, not caring how pathetic it made him seem, and transformed back into a hedgehog. It just didn't seem fair to him. The wolf looked at him and smiled then closed his eyes, turning back to normal. Shadic knew that he was changing personalities to Sonic.

While the other's personality swapped, Shadic looked at the ground. He couldn't help but feel like there was no way this was going to have a happy ending. Shadow was too powerful, had too many things in his favor.

"You'll be fine," Sonic said. He looked at his son and smiled.

Shadic shook his head. "How do you know? Shadow's got everything on his side. Situations like this can't be won by people like us."

Sonic sighed. "We'll figure something out, son. You have the ring, which is me, after all."

"But Shadow corrupted it. What if you turn against me too? Then I'll have no one." Shadic fiddled with the ring on his finger.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Shadow corrupted the ring with his own darkness. Wouldn't he be able to use that to turn you against me?" Shadic looked at his father. "He was your lover, after all."

Sonic sighed. "I am not sure...that ring is me, so he might. You...don't mind that Shadow and I are...gay, do you?"

Shadic looked up at him in shock. "Why would I mind that? You're my parents. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be here."

"Just asking," Sonic told him.

Shadic bit his lower lip and thought about what Sonic had said. Why Sonic had brought it up didn't make sense to him.

"Never mind," Sonic said. "It's just that...some people think being gay is a sin."

"I always thought that my entire being was a little unnatural. Why should I judge someone unnatural for who they fell in love with?"

Sonic smiled, then changed his body to a female's. "Thanks," she said.

Shadic nodded but wondered why Sonic was in female form most of the time. "Is that why you're in a female form so often?"

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"You seem to enjoy being a female. I was just wondering if how people think of gays has anything to do with it."

Sonic hesitated and shook her head, then replied. "I just like it."

Shadic nodded and smiled. He then sighed, wondering about his own sexuality. He never really gave it much though. He did seem more attracted to boys than girls. Did that mean he was also gay?

"You think I might be gay too?" Shadic asked. "Not that it matters much. I'm surrounded by humans."

Sonic thought about it. "Have you ever been attracted to males and not females?"

Shadic nodded. "I've never really been interested in females," he said. "But everyone I know is human, so they're a lot different from me."

"Well, if you're not interested in females, you're probably gay," Sonic said. "We're a lot like humans, anyway."

Shadic nodded. He knew that he, Sonic and Shadow were the only anthros in Middle-Earth but wondered if there was a way to bring more into the world. Maybe Elrond could become one.

"If we get through this, and Middle-Earth is saved, do you think there would be a way to bring more anthros here?"

Sonic smiled and nodded. First things first. We need to beat Shadow and save everything." Shadic clenched his fist in determination.

"Yeah...we do," Sonic said. She walked up to Shadic and hugged him. The ring around his finger started to glow and they looked at it. Sonic's body was glowing also.

Shadic sighed. "I guess I'll see you later." Sonic smiled and Gandalf's personality took over again. Shadic looked at his ring sadly before looking at Gandalf. "What's the plan?' he asked. "We're going to need one."

The blue hedgehog nodded and spoke but before he could he could feel the pull of the ring and his body began glowing again.

"What's happening now?" Shadic moved his hand away from the other.

"Sonic and I are split personalities," he said. "We have the same body, remember? Also, because the One Ring you are wearing was Sonic, it's needing me to become one with it."

"No." Shadic covered the ring in an attempt to prevent that from happening. He shook his head. "I want someone here I can talk to. the others haven't gotten here yet."

"I am sorry," Gandalf said. He clutched his head in pain and smiled, then gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry about it," he said in Sonic's voice. "I'll still be with you."

Shadic's eyes widened as Sonic's personality took over completely. The glow intensified, and the blue hedgehog vanished into the ring.


	13. Will of the Ring

Chapter 13: Will of the Ring

Shadic stared at the ring in shock. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Looking around, he sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll wait for everyone else by myself," he muttered. As he walked back to the cave, he glared at the ring. It glowed and Shadic fell to the ground, holding his head in pain. He looked over at the ring with a pained grimace on his face. "Stop it," he snarled.

Shadic closed his eyes, concentrating on the ring. Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head. _What are you doing?_

His eyes widened and he looked at the ring. The voice was Sonic's. "You're still here!" Shadic's smile faded when he remembered what exactly Sonic was now. "How dark is the ring now?" he asked.

_Very dark,_ the ring said. _I am afraid that I am beginning to corrupt you._

"You can tell that?" Shadic looked down at himself. "I don't feel corrupted."

Suddenly, the ring glowed again and Shadic fell to the ground in pain. He could feel darkness spreading through his body. Everywhere the darkness spread, he could feel pain. Shadic whimpered a little and tried to get back up. Everyone told him he was strong enough to resist it. He didn't want to let them down. Shadic clutched his head in pain as he began to feel corrupted. It would take a while until he was fully gone. Shadic looked over at Mordor again. If he was becoming corrupted, then the Dark Lord had to be defeated soon. But he couldn't do it by himself. He looked back the other way.

He heard a loud screech and looked over to see Orcs coming towards him. He had to defend himself. Shadic's mind raced as he tried to think of what to do. Attacking them as he was wouldn't do any good. Focusing, he transformed himself into a dragon. The Orcs came and attacked but couldn't penetrate Shadic's thick scales. The dragon smirked and blew a flame, surrounding the Orcs. They screamed in pain. Shadic chuckled as he watched the Orcs roast in their fiery circle. Shifting his weight, Shadic blew more flames down at another group of Orcs that had come to investigate. The other Orcs were larger this time, but nothing could stop a dragon. Shadic looked up from his fun at the rest of Mordor. Screaming Orcs were all well and good, but there were other things he could play with in there.

He turned back to normal and sighed, then looked around. He would have to continue on to Mordor alone. The hedgehog looked at the border of the land in the distance; it would take a while before he got there, probably a few months or more. If he used his shapeshifting powers to become something, no doubt there would be evil creatures that would see him. Shadic would have to go on foot.

"Should I wait a bit before getting myself lost somewhere?" he asked the ring. "I mean, I should keep my strength up, but I should really get moving if I want to do something worthwhile."

Shadic started walking as he looked around. If something were to attack him, he'd have to use the natural abilities he had as Sonic's son.

_It would be wise of you to move on,_ Sonic's voice said in Shadic's head.

Shadic looked down at the ring and nodded. "How much time do you suppose we've got?"

_The Dark Lord is getting stronger,_ the ring said telepathically. _You are going to become corrupted even faster. I'd say at least a week to a month._

Shadic sighed. "Why do things have to be so hard? By the time I get to Mordor, I'm going to be corrupted. How am I supposed to stop the Dark Lord if I'm corrupted by him?"

The ring was silent for a few minutes and then spoke. _Don't let yourself be corrupted by him._

Shadic nodded but wondered what would happen if he did. Perhaps he could keep his own mind. "I'll do my best."

He looked at the ring that was Sonic and continued on towards Mordor. Shadic had been walking for a few hours before he finally collapsed on the ground. He didn't want to walk in a straight line any longer. He looked around and saw that he was in a valley. Sitting himself up, Shadic wondered if he could find a place to rest. There had to be a safe place somewhere. He got to his feet and started wandering around the valley. Soon, he came to a village and walked through it, looking for an inn. He saw one and went inside. A man looked up and smiled.

"You looking for a room? We have some available."

"Yes, I am." Shadic walked up to the counter with a smile.

The man nodded and handed Shadic a key, who gave the innkeeper some money. He walked to the room he was given and lay down on the bed, looking at the ring on his finger. If he tried, he could find humor in the fact that such a small thing could bring about so many problems. He sighed as he stared at it.

"I don't know how long I can resist you," he said. "Just don't try anything while I'm asleep." Shadic rolled over and closed his eyes to go to sleep.

The next day, he woke and got out of bed. Shadic looked at the ring and communicated with it, hoping to hear his mother's voice once again.

"Mom?" he asked. "Could I talk to you?"

_What is it you want?_

"I want to know what you think," he said. "Do you think I'm making a stupid decision going there by myself?"

The ring glowed. _Of course not, son. You are doing what you think is right. _

"I have no idea how to do this. There's no way I'm strong enough to just go in there. And the Dark Lord's strong enough without having an evil ring corrupting me every step I take closer to him."

_You have your powers; they will help you. Also, you can learn to control my powers...the power of the ring._

"Can you teach me while I walk?"

_Yes,_ the ring said, and then became silent.

Shadic sighed and walked out of the inn. Foolishly waving to the village as he left, Shadic kept a smile on his face. If he remained happy, he figured it would be harder for the ring to corrupt him. The hedgehog continued to walk and looked at the ring that was Sonic, remembering how it said he could learn to control its powers. He fiddled with it as he tried to decide what he should try to learn first. Perhaps he could learn how to use its powers somehow. He closed his eyes and communicated with it.

"I want to become invisible again," he told the ring.

_I can teach you. __Just close your eyes and will yourself to turn invisible._

Shadic nodded and did so. When he opened his eyes again, he lifted a hand to test. Rather than his hand, he saw the grass behind it. He smiled and looked at the ring again.

He turned visible and spoke to the ring again. "What else could you teach me?"

_I can teach you how to sense the Dark Lord,_ the ring told him. _However, there is a catch to these powers. With every power you gain to control, you shall become more corrupted. But when you have my full powers, you will keep your own mind._

Shadic nodded despite the fact that Sonic couldn't see him. "Promise?"

_Promise,_ Sonic's voice said.

"All right. What next?"

_Another power I can give you is mind-reading._

"Mind reading?" Shadic asked. "Why would I want to read someone's mind?"

The ring spoke again. _So you can prepare yourself for whatever Shadow plans to throw at you. It could help you get through to his fortress as well._

Shadic nodded and the ring began to teach him its powers. When he learned all of them, he could feel himself becoming more corrupted but Sonic had told him that he would keep his own mind. He smiled, knowing that controlling the ring's powers would help him greatly.


	14. Silver the Hedgehog

Chapter 14: Silver the Hedgehog

Shadic couldn't help but pray his mom hadn't tricked him because of the ring. He sighed and continued on, looking at the ring. Shadic could feel it corrupting him.

"Maybe I'll be stronger once it's corrupted me," he said. "That seemed to have worked for Shadow."

Shadic closed his eyes and concentrated on its power, trying to use it. Darkness enveloped his body and he groaned in pain, then fell to the ground. Shadic closed his eyes rather than look at the ground. The powers were corrupting him faster now. All he had to do was wait. Once that was done, he'd be able to decide what to do next.

He stood up, panting, as the darkness was taking hold. Suddenly, the ring glowed and soon a portal opened in the sky, causing a person to fall out and land on the ground. It was Silver the Hedgehog. Shadic jumped a step away. His eyes were wide as he stared at the other hedgehog.

Silver got up and looked around, his eyes focusing on Shadic. "Who are you?" He asked. "And where am I?"

Shadic shook his head to recover from his shock. "I... Middle-Earth," he said.

"Middle-Earth?" Silver asked.

Shadic nodded hesitantly. He looked at Silver, wondering who he was. The new hedgehog looked pretty handsome, Shadic had to admit. He blushed.

"I'm Shadic," he said. "What's your name?"

"My name's Silver."

"Silver..." Shadic looked thoughtful for a moment. "Did you know my parents?" It made sense to him that Silver would be from the same place as his parents.

"What are their names?" Silver asked.

"Sonic and Shadow. They were both hedgehogs like you."

Silver's eyes widened. "Yes...I do. They're both really good friends. So, you're their son?"

Shadic nodded and looked down. He had to explain. "Where should I start?" Shadic asked. His hand moved to his own chin as he thought.

"How about you tell me what's going on. How did I get here?"

Shadic shook his head. "I have no idea how you got here. I don't even know how exactly my parents got here. As for what's going on... Well, Shadow's trying to destroy everything."

Silver's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"Fifteen years ago, my parents went out to defeat the Dark Lord Melkor. Mom... Sonic told me that Shadow succumbed to Melkor's evil powers after Sonic had died. He's been the Dark Lord since then. Now that he's grown in power, he's begun Dagor Dagorath. We have to stop him before everything is destroyed."

Silver's eyes widened and he nodded. "I will help you, then. What about Sonic? Is he alive?"

Shadic held up his hand and pointed to the ring on his finger. "This is Sonic." Before Silver to speak what he was thinking, he explained. "Mother had shapeshifting powers. When we got to Shadow's fortress in Angband, he transformed into the ring so I could get close to Shadow and overhear his plans." Shadic looked down at the memory. "Shadow put some of his soul into the ring and corrupted it. Sonic can't change back, and the ring's been corrupting me little by little."

"I see," Silver said, and smiled. "Let's get moving, then. Have you been corrupted?"

Shadic hesitated and nodded slightly. "...I have." Shadic looked at the ring again. "But mother told me I'd keep my mind."

Silver sighed. "That's good," he said.

Shadic nodded and the ring glowed again. He grunted in pain as a dark aura appeared around him as he felt himself being filled with darkness. "I don't know how I'm going to get anywhere with you doing this all the time."

Shadic looked at Silver sheepishly. He'd just met the other person and he already had to be giving him a bad first impression.

"So, we're headed towards Mordor?" Silver asked.

Shadic nodded. "It's been rebuilt since Sauron's death. It's where Shadow has his army."

"How long will it take us to get there?"

Shadic sighed. From the rate they were going, a few months. "A few months at this rate." He looked around. "Hopefully everything hasn't been destroyed by then."

"I'll come with you. It might be fun."

Shadic nodded and blushed. "So..." he started. "Do you have any special abilities or anything?" Shadic was strangely nervous asking a question like that.

Silver nodded. "I have psychic powers. What about you?"

"Everything Sonic's taught me," he said. "I've got his speed and shapeshifting as well."

"That's cool. Anything else?"

Shadic nodded. "Immortality." Shadic looked around again before stretching. "So, what's it like where you're from?"

Silver smiled. "Well, I'm from modern times. There are many cities and other means of transportation, like cars and planes. Did Sonic and Shadow ever tell you about Earth?"

Shadic shook his head. "Mom focused on what was happening around us, and Shadow was never there." He gave Silver a smile. "I'd never really asked about it either."

"So, what's like like in Middle-Earth?"

"Boring." Shadic chuckled. "Until something like this happens. Not much happens unless you're out looking for something."

Silver smiled and nodded, blushing also. "What happened before you got here?" Shadic was curious, and he needed something to keep his mind on.

"I was just walking through Station Square...that's the city I live in...when a portal appeared and sucked me inside. The next thing I knew, I was here."

"How long do you think you're going to be here?" Shadic asked. "It would be nice to have someone else like me."

Silver shrugged. "As long as I can, I suppose. It would be nice to go on an adventure for a change."

"Do you have any idea how to fight Shadow?" he asked.

"I...I am not sure. I suppose I can use my psychic powers on him but I don't know if that will work. Do you have any suggestions?"

Shadic shook his head. "I've been trying to come up with something for a long while now. All I've got are the Silamrils and my own powers. The past fifteen years has given him plenty of time to significantly increase his powers. Gandalf wasn't sure how well the Silamrils would actually help."

Silver nodded and followed Shadic. "Maybe you could use your new dark powers that the ring gave you."

Shadic looked at Silver. "I should, if I can figure out which ones to use."

Silver nodded. "Alright," he said with a smile on his face.

Shadic returned his smile.

"Let's go, then."

Shadic nodded, and they continued on their way. While heading to Mordor, the two new friends were talking. Shadic felt a strange feeling grow inside him and wondered if he was starting to fall for Silver.

"Mom?" he asked the ring.

_Yes?_ The ring replied.

"I... I wanted to ask you what falling in love felt like."

The ring glowed brightly and answered him. _I don't know how to explain it,_ Sonic laughed.

Shadic grinned and nodded. "So I need to figure it out on my own." He looked over at Silver. "I think I'm falling in love with one of your friends."

The ring glowed again and he heard Sonic's voice in his head. _Who is it?_

"Silver."

_That's great, son! How long have you had these feelings? When did he appear in Middle-Earth?_

Shadic shifted uncomfortably, hoping Silver wasn't hearing any of the conversation. "I'm not sure when I started feeling something toward him. He fell from the sky shortly after I finished learning everything from you."

The ring glowed again. _You can speak to me telepathically, you know. No need to say everything out loud._

"I know." Shadic looked at Silver again. "When you told Shadow that you loved him, how did he take it?"

_He was happy, and confessed his love to me also. Don't rush it, though. It's better to take things slow and see where you go from there._

"I should wait until we've beaten the Dark Lord, anyway. Now's not the time for this type of stuff."

_That is a good idea,_ Sonic's voice said. _Shadic...you are nearly corrupted. When we are almost to Mordor, you shall be fully filled with darkness, and will be very powerful._

"But I'll be myself, right?" Shadic let out a shaky breath. "I'm not sure about this. Fighting the Dark Lord with Darkness isn't going to be a smart idea."

_You will be yourself. I gave you my word._

The ring's glow vanished and it stopped speaking. Shadic sighed and looked at Silver. He walked over, giving Silver a smile.

"You ready?" he asked. "We're going to be there soon."

Silver nodded. "You bet," he said.

Shadic smiled, and the two continued on towards Mordor.

* * *

By the time they'd reached Mordor, Shadic could feel the darkness increasing his powers. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the power of the ring. A dark aura flew into his body and he could feel the darkness corrupting him greatly.

"It's almost corrupted me," he told Silver. "Though I guess I can't call it corrupting if I keep my own mind."

Silver nodded. As they look their first step into Mordor, the ring on Shadic's finger glowed brightly and poured the rest of its evil power into Shadic. He screamed as a dark aura surrounded him and could feel himself becoming corrupted as darkness spread throughout his body, and his mind also.

All he could do was wait for the darkness to spread throughout him. He grunted in pain as the darkness flowed through his body, and he could feel his mind becoming corrupted also. Shadic tried to resist bit the ring glowed more, and he could hear the Dark Lord's voice.

_Do not resist, Shadic. You are meant to be at my side in this battle. Don't you want your family to be together again?_

Shadic's eyes widened and he nodded hesitantly.

_Come to Mordor to serve me,_ Shadow said. _Sonic is with you. Your parents will be together with you._

Shadic grunted and tried to resist but couldn't. His mind broke and was corrupted fully. He looked at Silver sadly.

"You have to go your own," he said. Shadic closed his eyes and felt the corruption fill his mind completely.

Silver's eyes widened and he nodded. "I'll get you back," he said. "That's a promise."

Shadic nodded and groaned in pain. The corruption had become complete.


	15. Corruption

Chapter 15: Corruption

Shadic ignored Silver and ran farther into Mordor to join his father. A few hours later, he had reached Barad-Dur and bowed before the Dark Lord.

"I'm here, father."

Shadow nodded and chuckled, then snapped his fingers and armor appeared over Shadic's body. Then the Dark Lord spoke. "The war will start soon. I want you to be at your best."

Shadic nodded and bowed before his father.

"I have to prepare the rest of our army." Shadow walked past Shadic to get his army prepared.

Shadic stood up, wondering if there was anything that he could do. He looked around wondering where to practice his abilities.

He closed his eyes and began to practice his new dark powers, feeling himself growing stronger. Shadic grinned and opened his eyes; instead of being violet, they were now blood-red. If he could control the power he felt surging through himself, he'd be able to help immensely in the war. He looked at the ring again, something he'd been doing out of habit recently.

The ring glowed brightly and he could hear Sonic's voice inside his head. It was now much darker than before, and Shadic could tell that the ring was becoming more evil.

_You're doing well,_ Sonic said.

Shadic grinned and nodded. He knew that Sonic had told him that he would keep his own mind but that must have been a lie. His mother was gone, and all that remained of Sonic was an evil ring. Now that he was here, Shadic knew he had to help his parents win this war. He chuckled evilly, looking around Barad-Dur. Soon, the war would begin. They must prepare. Shadic left the fortress to see how Shadow's preparations were coming along. If he was going to do anything useful, Shadow would know where he should go. He ran across Mordor and saw that Shadow was preparing his army. Orcs, trolls, and every evil creature was there. The Dark Lord looked up when he saw Shadic arrive.

"The people of Middle-Earth won't stand a chance," Shadow said. He looked back at the army. "Not with this against them."

Shadic looked at the army and nodded. He bowed before his father, wondering if there was anything he could do.

Shadow thought a moment, looking down at Shadic. "Go see how close the people's pathetic army is."

His son nodded and stood up, then transformed into a dragon and flew out of Mordor, scanning the ground for the army that would combat them. Shadic also kept an eye out for Silver. When he found them, he looked back over his shoulder to see how long it would take them to reach Mordor. The dragon grinned; it would take them at leas another few weeks. This gave him and Shadow plenty of time. He flew back to Mordor, once again watching the ground for Silver. Shadic saw the psychic hedgehog struggling to climb the mountains that overlooked Mordor. Shadic snarled, wondering if he should capture Silver or not. He would have to ask Shadow.

The dragon flew home as fast as possible, landing in front of Shadow. Once he'd transformed back, he bowed.

"It will take them another few weeks," he said. He paused, looking at the ground. "Silver is in the mountains nearby. Should I capture him, or leave him alone?"

Shadow thought about it and sneered. He knew that Silver had psychic powers, but they were not powerful enough to stop him and Shadic. "No, leave him be. He doesn't pose any threat." Shadic nodded. Shadow looked around at their army. "A few weeks is plenty of time for us to finish our preparations."

His son nodded again and looked at the Dark Lord. He had to practice his dark abilities if he was going to grow stronger.

"I'll go practice my abilities," he said. "Call me when you need me."

Shadow nodded, and watched his son walk off. He closed his eyes and sent a telepathic message to Shadic's ring. _Keep him on our side,_ he told Sonic. _He can't leave us now._

The ring glowed, obeying its master's orders. It would keep Shadic on the side of evil, no matter what.

Shadic hurried to a different area of the fortress before stopping and looking at his ring. "All right. What do I need more practice with?"

The ring glowed even brighter. It would do as Shadow commanded. It had to turn Shadic evil even more and have him gain even greater power. Shadic's mind wandered to Silver as he stood there. If Silver made it to them, there was no doubt in Shadic's mind of what would happen. But if Silver didn't make it to them, it had a chance of happening anyway. He closed his eyes, focusing on the ring's power.

_I want to know how Silver's doing,_ he thought.

The ring glowed again and gave Shadic a vision of Silver. Silver was panting as he sat on a rock somewhere in the mountains. He looked around and sighed, looking as if he didn't want to go any further.

"I have to save him," he said. "But he won't want to. What am I going to do?" Silver kicked a smaller rock by his foot and sighed again. Leaning forward, he placed his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. He sighed and shook his head; all he had was his psychic powers. What good was that going to do against them? "I doubt I could change any of their minds," he muttered. Silver looked down at his feet.

The vision ended and Shadic looked at the ring. He chuckled evilly; there was nothing Silver could do.

Shadic focused on the ring, running through a mental list of all the things the ring enabled him to do. If he needed more work controlling something, he figured he'd focus on that first. He groaned in pain as the ring corrupted him further. He needed more power. Soon, he would be as powerful as Shadow. Shadic groaned again as he continued focusing on the ring. Allowing it to fully influence him was the best way for him to make his father proud of him.

The hedgehog could feel the darkness spread through him further. He was going down the path of darkness and could never go back.

Shadic kept his eyes closed. When he thought he was ready, he opened them and wondered what he should test out first. He grinned and began to test his dark magic. Shadic summoned some dark flames and directed them toward one of the walls. The wall exploded, and Shadic grinned. With these new powers that the ring gave him, he would be unstoppable and would conquer Middle-Earth with his father. Nothing would be capable of stopping them at this rate.

Not even Silver.


	16. Silver's Plan

Chapter 16: Silver's Plan

Silver had known getting into Mordor wouldn't be easy, but climbing mountains wasn't something he did often. All the climbing quickly tired him out. Perhaps he could use his psychic powers to fly into the land. He closed his eyes as a green aura appeared around him, and he started flying into Mordor. He had to get Shadic back, no matter what. Silver watched the ground, scanning for anything that could attack him. Losing his focus now wouldn't be a good thing.

Hours later, he had reached Mordor. His eyes widened as he saw a massive army, and knew that Shadow was preparing for war. Silver looked around, unsure of where to go next. Finding Shadic would be hard with so many monsters around. He hesitated, wondering what do to. There was no doubt that he would be captured if he wasn't careful. The move wasn't going to help him at all. Silver explored the area, careful to make sure none of the things roaming around saw him. The white hedgehog stuck to the shadows. Silver checked around himself again. None of the creatures around him had noticed him sighed and closed his eyes; over the past month, Shadic had taught him many things, including shapeshifting. He had never tried it, though Silver concentrated on a Orc, hoping he would transform.

Energy and magic from the air circled him and he felt something beginning shifting. Silver could feel himself transform. A few minutes passed and when it was over, he had become an Orc. Silver looked at his new body in shock. He had been half expecting it to fail. He grinned. Now he could walk across Mordor without raising any suspicion. The Orc took a deep breath and saw Barad-Dur in the distance, then began to walk towards his destination. He'd figure out how to find Shadic when he got there.

The way to Barad-Dur took longer than expected. Many fell creatures were marching towards the fortress, and it was a long ways to go. Silver thought about using his psychic powers but knew he didn't have them in this form. Relying on them all the time couldn't be good for him anyway. Silver sighed as he walked through the groups of creatures. He just hoped nothing had a big enough problem with Orcs to attack him. Soon, he came to the tower of Cirith Ungol. This would be a good place for him to be until he found a way to enter Barad-Dur. Cirith Ungol was filled with Orcs, and since he was once now, he had to act like them. Silver took a deep breath, and went inside the tower. Acting like an Orc couldn't be that hard. Silver tried drawing as little attention to himself as possible, watching out for any habits he should adopt.

He observed the Orcs and soon was acting just like them. He smirked to himself; he would wait here until the army got here, and then would try and free Shadic from the corruption that Shadow had on him. The entire time, he held on to the hope that Shadic hadn't fallen so far that he couldn't save him. Saving people hadn't turned out to be his specialty, after all. Silver smiled and walked around Cirith Ungol, getting a feel for the place. Since he was going to stay here, he needed a new name so the other Orcs wouldn't know it was him. Shadow, most likely, had told them to look for a person named Silver. But what kind of name would work for an Orc? Silver thought hard, not noticing when he ran into an Orc.

"Watch where you're going!" The Orc said. He then looked at Silver. "You must be new here. What is your name?"

Silver stammered, thoughts racing for a name. "It's...Gothmog."

"Everyone's a little antsy. The humans haven't got here yet."

"When will they arrive?" Gothmog asked the Orc.

The Orc shrugged. "We were just told to wait until the humans got here. We weren't told when they would."

Gothmog nodded, and then spoke again. He had to get some more information. "Does anyone tell us anything?" he asked.

"The captain, Shagrat, has all the information you need," the Orc said. "You can find him at the top of the tower."

Gothmog nodded and walked off to find the top of the tower.

He soon came to the top and saw Shagrat. Gothmog swallowed nervously, unsure of how to approach the other Orc.

"What do you want?" Shagrat asked.

Gothmog looked at him and spoke. "I was wondering how much longer we had to wait," he said.

"The army will be here in a week," Shagrat told him.

"So we don't have to wait much longer," Gothmog said. "That's great."

Shagrat nodded. "During the week, Shadow will come to check on our progress. I suggest you help us. Soon, we shall be in battle."

Gothmog nodded. Nervousness crept up on him as he thought of how soon he'd see the Dark Lord. He left, and went back downstairs. The Orc looked around for a place to sleep and came to the rooms that the Orcs slept in. Choosing one that wasn't occupied, he laid down and tried to fall asleep. What would he do when the Dark Lord showed? Gothmog knew that he had to save Shadic but needed to be undercover. Therefore, during the next week, he had to do exactly what Shadow wanted, and possibly had to participate in the war also. He didn't like the thought of helping the Dark Lord, regardless of who he used to be. The transformed Orc sighed and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, he was fast asleep.


	17. An Undercover Orc

Chapter 17: An Undercover Orc

When Silver, now Gothmog, woke up in the morning, the first thing he did was check to see if he was still an Orc. Once he found that he was, he got out of bed. Gothmog looked around and then walked out of the room. Everyone was lining up for attention, so he did as well. Soon, Shagrat appeared and grinned.

"The Dark Lord has come to speak with us," he said.

Gothmog gulped and nodded. A few minutes later, Shadow came in, accompanied by Shadic. They stood in front of the Orc army and the Dark Lord paced in front of them before speaking.

"The human army will be here soon. I want all of you at your best." Shadow turned and looked at the Orcs. "Middle-Earth will be mine once this battle is over, and all of you will be able to go about doing as you please."

The Orcs, along with Gothmog, nodded. Shadow turned to Shadic, who said something also. "I'm going to stay here with you. It will help both of us prepare."

Gothmog smiled at this. It would help him get closer to Shadic. Shadow nodded.

"Very well." He left Shadic standing there, staring at the Orcs.

Shadic hesitated and walked up to the Orcs, looking at them. Finally, he came to Gothmog. Shadic stared at him. Something was familiar about this Orc.

Gothmog hesitated; he didn't want Shadic finding out who he really was. "My name is Gothmog. I am here to serve the Dark Lord."

Shadic smiled. "It won't be too much longer. You eager at all?"

"Yes, I am."

Shadic gave him a pat in the arm and walked off. Gothmog watched him leave. All he had to do was keep up his act and maybe after the battle, he could get Shadic back. It was a comforting thought. The rest of the Orcs moved away, returning to whatever they did during the day. The transformed Orc sighed and did what the other Orcs did also. He helped get things ready for the battle, wielding armor and other work. Shadic watched him; he was taking a liking to this Orc. There was something a little different about him. The way he got things done and carried himself. Shadic looked at the ring and sighed. He knew he should get to his practice. He'd said he would be at his best when the army arrived.

He closed his eyes as darkness filled his body. Shadic heard a voice in his head and knew it was the ring's. _What are you going to strengthen today?_

Shadic thought about it. Perhaps he could learn necromancy like his father. "What about necromancy?" he asked the ring. "I'd like to try that out."

The ring glowed brightly and its voice came again. _That would be fine,_ it said. _Close your eyes and focus on my power._

Shadic closed his eyes and did as the ring had instructed. "Now what?"

_Now focus your powers on the darkness. Reach out into the Void and summon the dead._

Shadic frowned as he focused on the darkness and tried to reach into the Void. He had no idea what exactly to be looking for, or how to find it. He could see the spirits of the dead all floating in the Void. Shadic focused his power and began to summon them to the living world. Soon, he could feel them materializing and opened his eyes. In front of him was a room full of spirits. Shadic smiled faintly.

"That was harder than I thought it was going to be." He looked around. "How do I make them go away now?"

_They will vanish on their own,_ Sonic's voice told him.

Shadic nodded and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the spirits were gone. Looking around again, Shadic tried to find Gothmog. Now that he'd practiced something, Shadic wanted to see what the Orc was up to. He found the Orc in the armory, looking around at the weapons. Shadic cleared his throat, and Gothmog turned to look at him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just looking around to see what kind of armor I should wear," Gothmog told him. "You said that war is in a week?"

Shadic nodded. "If I calculated things correctly. Why?"

"I just want to be prepared."

Shadic looked at him. There was something different about this Orc. He seemed...more responsible and was determined to do things when asked. Shadic stood there watching him as the Orc got back to his looking. He smiled and walked up to him. "How do you fight?" he asked. "You should think of that when choosing your armor."

Gothmog nodded. He looked at Shadic and spoke to the apprentice. "I try not to rush ahead. I like making sure I can actually do it before..." Gothmog trailed off. As he was speaking, it had occurred to him that Orcs didn't seem to fight like that.

Shadic looked confused but then Gothmog thought about what he was going to say.

"I like keeping myself alive," he said with a shrug. "That's how everyone wants to come out of a battle, right?"

Shadic nodded. He wanted to get to know this Orc better. "What made you want to join the Dark Lord?" he asked.

Gothmog hesitated. He had to come up with something... "Family." Gothmog mentally slapped himself. "They were helping the Dark Lord, so I'm helping the Dark Lord."

Shadic nodded and was reminded of his own family. "Family always has a strong affect on people's lives, no matter what race they are," he said. "Are they here with you?"

Gothmog shook his head.

"Oh." Shadic looked down. Biting his lower lip, he looked back at the Orc. "What do you do when you're not fighting or training?"

"Well, usually I like to relax and walk around," Gothmog said. "I'm new here, so everything looks unfamiliar."

"I'm kind of new here too." Shadic chuckled. "I haven't gotten to explore Mordor much."

Gothmog nodded. "So, what made you want to serve the Dark Lord?"

Shadic hesitated for a moment. "He's my father."

The Orc's eyes widened and he nodded.

"My family story's a mess," Shadic said.

"You don't need to explain it," Gothmog said. "Anyway, what do we have to do to prepare for war?"

Shadic thought. "Make sure everyone knows how to fight. We should have a plan of some sort as well. The other army's bound to have one of their own."

The Orc nodded. "I'll do that," he said, and walked out of the armory. Shadic smiled and followed him. He was starting to like Gothmog.

"How are you going to do that?" he asked in amusement. "You said yourself that you're new here."

"Well..." Gothmog hesitated. He wasn't sure, but he had to come up with something. Looking at Shadic, he told him. "You tell them to come up with a plan, and I'll give my own suggestions."

Shadic nodded. That sounded good. The two returned to where the other Orcs were.

"We need to come up with a plan of action!" Shadic yelled over the noise.

The Orcs stopped what they were doing and immediately came to attention.

"The army we're going to be up against is going to have some sort of plan. We need one of our own. We can't just charge and expect that to work on all of them." The Orcs talked amongst themselves and Gothmog thought up something as well. He smiled and looked at Shadic. "Think of something?" Shadic asked.

Gothmog nodded. "Why don't we try having part of our forces in hiding? The humans will underestimate our power, and the Orcs in hiding can com out at the right moment and take them by surprise."

Shadic smirked evilly and nodded. That will work perfectly. He would have to relay this message to Shadow. Turning from the Orcs, he looked at his ring. "Can I tell Shadow from here, or do I have to go to him?"

_You can contact him telepathically,_ Sonic's voice said. _Just reach out with your mind._

Shadic nodded and did what the ring told him. Once he'd reached Shadow, he told him what they'd come up with.

The Dark Lord replied with his own telepathic message. _That will work. Just make sure you know what you're doing._

Shadic nodded and broke the telepathic connection, then turned to the Orcs and gave them his orders. "Anyone who can have patience enough to stand by and wait rather than jumping into battle, step forward." Some of the Orcs, including Gothmog, stepped forward. Shadic studied them and nodded in satisfaction. "Good. You'll do. Follow me. We'll figure out where to have you wait."

Gothmog followed Shadic, hoping to keep up his act.


	18. Preparing for War

Chapter 18: Preparing for War

They soon came to the Plains of Gorgoroth, near Mount Doom. Shadow was there, waiting for them. He chuckled evilly as he saw the Orcs following Shadow. His eyes laid on Gothmog. Shadow stared at the Orc. Something was off about him, but Shadow couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He looked down at his ring, wondering if he should try and see what it was.

He closed his eyes, focusing his power on Gothmog. When he opened them again, he saw Silver.

The Orc gulped, knowing he had been found out. Shadow grinned evilly. If Silver was in the form of an Orc, he could be of use.

_How is Shadic?_ Shadow telepathically asked Sonic.

_He is too far gone, Master,_ the ring said. _My influence over him has completely turned him evil._

_Then Silver's presence won't do any harm._ The ring's words made him certain of this. The ring continued to glow. It felt a feeling inside Silver, one of love. The same feeling was inside Shadic, but it was buried deep down under his corrupted self. _Shadic will be all right in this war, won't he?_ Shadow was hesitant to ask. He focused on what Shadic was explaining to him as he awaited the ring's response.

_Yes,_ the ring said. _Although...I have felt a feeling of love between Silver and Shadic. It seems they love each other. Should I do anything about that?_

The Dark Lord thought about it and shook his head. _It won't affect anything,_ he said. _We should ignore it._

The ring grew silent. Shadow thought about what it told him. An idea came to him and he smirked. He could give Silver a mental change to make him think that he was just another Orc serving him. Shadow motioned for Silver to approach him as he readied the spell. The Orc hesitated, wondering if he should come over to Shadow or not. The Dark Lord already found him out, so he stepped forwards. Shadow placed his hand on Silver's forehead and cast the spell.

Gothmog groaned in pain and fell to the ground, feeling the spell taking effect. When it was over, he bowed to the Dark Lord and spoke. "Shall I follow your orders, or continue to listen to your son?" Shadow grinned and told Gothmog to continue listening to Shadic. The Orc nodded and stood up. Shadic was looking over at them, curiosity in his eyes. He walked back to Shadic and bowed. "I will continue to serve you," he said.

Shadic hesitated. Alarm bells were going off inside his head. Something was not right; Gothmog's entire personality had changed. What had his father done to the Orc? Shadic looked at Shadow with concern. When he looked back at Gothmog, he tried to remain neutral. "That's...great."

Gothmog nodded.

"We should return to Cirith Ungol," Shadic said. He was addressing all of the Orcs now. "Remember what we decided here."

They nodded and followed Shadic. Once they got there, Shadic walked up to Gothmog. He had to know what happened.

"What did father want with you?"

"He wanted to see if I was able to help," Gothmog said. "And asked if I was loyal to him and you."

Shadic nodded hesitantly. He knew there had to be something more to it. "That was all?"

Gothmog thought about it. He nodded, certain that there hadn't been anything else. Shadic hesitated again and sighed, then nodded also.

"All right. What should we do now?"

"We could start preparing the plan you told us about," Gothmog said.

Shadic nodded. "All right. Want to help me?" Despite thinking something had happened to the Orc, he still wanted to get along with him.

Gothmog nodded. "I'd be glad to. What do you want me to do?"

"We should help the others train, for one thing. We could also help out with the armor and weapons."

"Alright."

Shadic and Gothmog went to assist the other Orcs prepare for the battle.

The week passed and soon the Orcs were ready. Shadic was nervous. He'd never been in a war before, and certainly not while in charge. He looked at the Orcs and sighed.

"Remember what I told you?" he asked. "We need to stick to the plan."

They nodded and followed Shadic out with Gothmog. Shadic led the Orcs back to where they were planning to attack the army. Shadow stood there with the other evil creatures and smirked.

"It's time to show Middle-Earth how powerful we are," he said. "We can't lose."

Shadic nodded. He saw the enemy army approach and grinned evilly.

"Get ready," he told the Orcs.

The Orcs, including Gothmog, nodded. Shadic focused on his powers, pulling them up and getting ready. Soon the army was upon them. Shadic focused his powers on the ring as did Shadow. Both called spirits from the land around them to join them. They chuckled evilly and then Shadow created a massive storm. Dagor Dagorath had begun.


	19. Dagor Dagorath

Chapter 19: Dagor Dagorath

The Orcs in front didn't waste any time attacking the humans in front of them. Shadic kept an eye on the Orcs while he looked to see what else there was in the opposing army. He summoned the dead who attacked before going into battle himself using the powers of the ring. Darkness and flames were thrown from his hands as he did so. They hit the elves hard where they hadn't had time to get out of the way. Elrond saw this and gasped. He took out the Silmarils, hoping they'd work. Focusing on them, he let go of the energy they held.

The Silmarils flashed brightly and hit Shadow, Shadic, and Gothmog. They screamed in pain but the darkness was too great. Gothmog, however, felt some memories return to him. He shrugged it off and continued to battle the enemy. Shadow and Shadic both snarled before once again sending waves of dark flames in the elves' direction. The elves screamed in pain as the flames engulfed them. The two continued to use their pyrokinesis as some of the elves died.

Elrond looked around him, unsure of what he could do now. Something had to be done about those two. He summoned his magic and sent out flames of his own to counter theirs. This did no good, however, as Shadow and Shadic's flames were more powerful than his. They smirked and walked up to Elrond, maces appearing in their hands. The elf's eyes widened as he saw the rings on their fingers glowing brightly, giving them more evil power. Elrond drew his weapon, despite the power he could feel coming from the two he was about to fight.

The two had an aura of darkness around them and it was very evil. They swung their weapons at Elrond, who began fighting with them. The elf, like the rest of his race, was fast. Not as fast as the two he was fighting, but enough to avoid getting himself killed just yet. He dodged their attacks, striking back when the opportunity arose. Elrond yelled and blocked their attacks. He was being forced back, and knew that they had become even stronger because of the rings they had. The elf did not want to die yet but knew that if this kept up he may soon.

Despite how many times he'd managed to strike them, his opponents didn't seem to be taking as much damage as they should have. He groaned and looked around the battlefield. The Orcs were battling the humans, and the other creatures had killed most of the dwarves and elves. Elrond hated to admit it, but their chances of winning were looking slim.

The elf used the Silmarils once more but they failed again. Suddenly, he saw Shadow's mace come down and rolled out of the way to dodge it. Shadic was ready for him, however. A heavy blow knocked Elrond to the ground before he had a chance to fully get back to his feet. He groaned and looked up to see Shadic, holding his sword above the elf. The apprentice grinned evilly and spoke.

"And now, the elves will fall." Shadic plunged his sword into Elrond's body.

The elf gasped in pain and struggled to speak. Blood formed around the wound and he died. Shadic pulled the blood-stained sword from Elrond's body and looked around to see Gothmog fighting. The Orc was hacking away with his sword, leaving a path of carnage behind him. Shadic smirked and joined him. Shadow focused on the rest of the elves. In a blast of powerful magic, Shadow had most of the elves' remaining forces wiped out. He chuckled; the race of elves was no more. Now, all that was left were the dwarves and the humans. This was going to be fun.

Shadow looked in Shadic's direction. His son was doing well. He smirked and walked up to him and Gothmog, then spoke.

"You are doing well," he said. "All that remains are the humans and dwarves. Once they are dead, Middle-Earth will be ours."

They nodded. "Who would you like us to focus on now?" Gothmog asked.

"Whoever comes close enough," Shadow said. "Don't leave any of our foes alive."

Gothmog nodded and ran towards the humans. Shadow looked around and grinned, then looked at his son. It was time to summon the Nazgul.


	20. Winning the War

Chapter 20: Winning the War

Shadic nodded hesitantly, knowing what his father wanted. He hadn't had the chance to do much with the Nazgul before. Inside, he hoped Shadow wouldn't require his help. The apprentice closed his eyes, calling on the powers of his ring. He would use it to summon the Nazgul. For some reason, though, he could feel power well up inside him as he began to transform. Shadic's skin grew paler as he felt colder. The dark energy had completely filled his body. His armor hadn't changed, despite not looking like a typical Nazgul's armor. His fur all of its color, becoming a dull blue. The ring on his finger stopped glowing. Shadic was dazed as he looked at Shadow.

Shadow grinned and chuckled; his son was now a Nazgul. Shadic screeched loudly as, in the distance, the tower of Minas Mourgal lit up. Soon, other screeches could be heard and the other Nazgul joined him. Shadic looked around at the other Nazgul. Now that they were here, what remained of the army would soon fall. He looked at Shadow.

The Dark Lord laughed evilly and told the Nazgul what to do. "Attack the humans. There are too many of them left."

The Nazgul nodded and followed the Dark Lord's orders. Shadic grinned as a Morgul sword appeared in his hand and he screeched loudly, then threw himself at the human army. The other Nazgul followed his lead into battle.

Shadow chuckled and closed his eyes, communicating with the Witch King.

_What are your thoughts on this?_ he asked.

_It is incredible,_ the Witch King said. _You are a magnificent Dark Lord, and very powerful. Shadic was right to come over to your side. We will win, and soon Middle-Earth will be ours._

Shadow smirked and nodded in agreement. _Shadic was right to join me. I hate to think what might have happened if he hadn't._

The Witch King's voice grew silent. Shadow sneered and watched as the Nazgul were fighting the human army. Shadic had also grown more powerful when turning into one. Shadic's powers were nearly matching those of his father by now. The fact was something Shadow supposed he should've been expecting. The human army was surprised at this turn of events but were putting up a good fight. Shadic and the other Nazgul, however, were much stronger.

It took longer than Shadow would've liked for the humans to fall to the Nazgul, but the war had almost ended once they did so. Soon, the humans were gone. The Nazgul shrieked in victory before turning their attention to the dwarves. Shadow grinned and walked up to them, his ring flaring brightly.

"The dwarves have been putting up a better fight than I'd expected. I shall join you, and we'll finish this war quickly."

Every evil creature nodded. Shadow closed his eyes as the ring gave him more power. He felt power flow through his body and felt himself shifting into a massive dragon. It let out a loud roar and stretched its wings. The sky darkened and the entire world rumbled. The dragon roared again, power coming from its roar. Soon, the sun had lost its light and the entire sky became dark.

The fire he blew down on the dwarves torched them as they found themselves unable to avoid it. The creatures under Shadow's command kept themselves as far away as they could. The dwarves screamed as they were killed. Some, however, remained standing. The Dark Lord landed and growled. The dwarves faced him with courage in their expressions, gripping their weapons tightly.

Shadow growled again and rushed forwards, breathing fire and killing them when they came close. The dragon went on a rampage, blood pooling from his jaws as he crunched on the dwarves' bodies, his sharp teeth killing them instantly as he swallowed them whole.

The dwarves did what they could to avoid the dragon's massive jaws as they descended on them. Nothing could be done to avoid their fate, however. The attacks they tried only hastened his judgement. The large dragon let out a massive roar and blew a large breath of fire, destroying the remaining dwarves instantly. Then it turned back into Shadow, who looked around at the many corpses of their enemy.

Shadic approached him, nervous about doing so. "What are we going to do now?"

Shadow looked at his son, smirking. They had done it. The End of days had begun, and Middle-Earth was now theirs forever. Shadic looked over at Gothmog, wondering what the Orc was going to do next.

Gothmog smirked evilly and bowed before the Dark Lord, as the other evil creatures did also. Shadic looked at himself; he was still in the form of a Nazgul but it didn't matter now. The war was won. Suddenly, the Silmarils activated and Gothmog looked at them, clutching his head in pain. Memories flew through his mind, reminding him of who he really was. Slowly, his Orc form shifted back to normal, and Silver stood there, panting for breath.


	21. Father Verses Son

Chapter 21: Father Verses Son

Shadow frowned while Shadic stared at Silver in shock. Silver looked around and stood up. He knew what he had to do. He had to confess his love to Shadic. Then, maybe, that would break the Dark Lord's hold.

Shadic was still in shock as Silver approached him. "You were Gothmog?" he asked.

"Yes...I was. I transformed myself into an Orc so that I could get you back. Please, Shadic...you have to snap out of it."

Shadic frowned and drew his sword, aiming it at Silver. He would never go back to the good side; Shadow was his master now. "Why would I want to? This is where I belong."

Despite his threat, he made no move to harm the hedgehog.

"When we first met, you treated me with such kindness. Over the past month that we were walking here, I felt...this feeling, and knew what it was." The hedgehog walked up to Shadic and stood in front of him. "Please, Shadic, come back...I love you."

Silver then kissed Shadic on the lips. Shadic's eyes widened in surprise. He could feel something inside him; it was the same feeling that Silver was talking about. Shadic stared at Silver, lips pressed against the other's. Hesitantly, he moved a bit closer to Silver. The Nazgul closed his eyes and felt his form changing back to normal. The feeling in his chest grew stronger, and he knew what it was: love. His eyes closed as he moved his hands to Silver's arms. Pulling back, he gave the other a smile.

"I love you too," he said.

Silver smiled and nodded. Shadic groaned as he felt the Dark Lord's corruption leaving him.

Shadow snarled in anger. "Shadic? You aren't allowed to leave me!" Shadic turned to his father, glaring angrily at him. "You don't need love," Shadow said. "Which is more important? Him or your family?"

Shadic looked at his father, and then back to Silver. He kissed the other once more. Shadow growled in anger and sent out a telepathic message to Shadic's ring, telling him to corrupt his son once again...permanently, this time, along with Silver. The ring was silent as it looked into Shadic's mind. It could still see a darkness, and used that as the trigger. Shadow smirked evilly and spoke to his son once more.

"Come back to my side." Shadow extended his hand toward Shadic. "You know it's where you belong."

Shadic hesitated; he could feel the darkness corrupting him but resisted it. He shook his head and spoke angrily. "You never did a thing for me! Silver loves me, and he's not afraid to show it to me." Shadic's eyes filled with tears. "It's better to be with someone who actually cares about you than someone who doesn't."

Shadow growled in anger. He had to get Shadic back one way or the other. The Dark Lord poured his entire soul into Shadic's ring, causing it to corrupt his mind permanently. Then, he drew his sword. If Shadic was not going to join the darkness, then he would fight until Shadic gave in. Shadic drew his own sword, wincing as he felt the darkness corrupting him. If his father wanted to fight over this, he wouldn't back down. He stepped in front of Silver.

"I have to handle this alone."

Silver nodded. He wondered if he should transform back into Gothmog, but decided against it for now. Shadow and Shadic faced against each other, their swords drawn. When the battle started, Silver's eyes widened. He'd never seen people fight at the speed they were moving. Clashes of metal on metal rang out through the air.

Shadow growled in anger and parried Shadic's every blow. His son was strong, and matched him evenly. But he still had a few tricks up his sleeve that Shadic didn't know about. Shadow jumped away, throwing fire at Shadic. The younger dove to the side, avoiding most of the blast. He tried returning the attack, continuing to move to the side. A frontal attack would never work.

Shadic threw a attack of darkness at Shadow, who avoided the attack also. The two used their swords and magic attacks also. The power of their rings enhanced their powers greatly. With every blow Shadic sent, the darkness inside him grew. Shadow smirked as he continued the attack. Shadic was bound to give in to the darkness again.

Shadic growled angrily and spun around, kicking Shadow in the back. The Dark Lord fell to the ground and then got up again, transforming into a dragon using the power of his ring. Shadic sped away before Shadow's transformation could hit him. He transformed as well, hoping his Dragon form would be powerful enough to hold out against Shadow's. The move poured more darkness into him. He growled in hatred as his eyes became blood-red. Hopefully, he could kill Shadow before he became completely corrupted.

Shadic lunged at Shadow, jaws opening as he reached for the other's throat.

Shadow snarled and tried to retaliate but it was too late. Shadic's jaws closed around his throat. The Dark Lord roared in pain and fell to the ground, turning back to normal. He was weak. Shadic landed and stood in front of him, turning back to normal also. He could feel the darkness inside him as an evil aura surrounded him.

Shadic raised his sword over Shadow. Driving his sword down, Shadic paused just as the point of the sword touched Shadow's chest. Looking down at him, Shadic had a rush of different emotions. He felt pity, shock, but most of all, hatred. His father was no longer who he once was, and he had to be destroyed. Shadic plunged the sword into Shadow's chest. Immediately, darkness flooded his body and Shadic became corrupted once more. Now, he was the new Dark Lord.


	22. Gothmog and Shadic

Chapter 22: Gothmog and Shadic

"Shadic?" Silver asked.

The new Dark Lord turned and shot a beam of darkness at Silver, who transformed into the Orc Gothmog once more. This time, the transformation was permanent. Gothmog looked at Shadic in shock a moment. Shadic smiled and walked up to him.

"Why?" Gothmog asked. "Why have you followed in your father's footsteps?"

"He was right," Shadic said. "This is where I belong."

Gothmog's eyes widened and he sighed, then nodded. "You still love me...right?"

Shadic laid a hand on Gothmog's chest. He smiled up at the Orc. "Of course I do. Why else would I want you with me?"

"So, what do we do now? Middle-Earth is ours forever."

Shadic looked down as he thought it over. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do now. He grinned evilly. They would take over Middle-Earth and transform it into a world of darkness. Everything would be theirs. He turned to the evil creatures. He knew now what he had to do. "Go out and make this world ours," he told the creatures. Turning back to Gothmog, he smiled. "You'll rule by my side."

The Orc hesitated, and then nodded. He kissed Shadic, who kissed him back. The new Dark Lord looked at his father's body and took the ring, placing it on Gothmog's finger. Shadic cast a spell at the Orc, which caused him to become immortal.

"Now, we'll be together forever." He smiled up at the Orc.

Gothmog kissed Shadic again. "So...where do we start?"

"We should decide where we want to live."

"How about here? Or at the dark fortress of Angband?"

"Sounds good." Shadic took Gothmog's hand and looked around. "We'll rule from here."

Gothmog nodded and smiled once again. Shadic thought about how Sonic had transformed into a female in order to have kids; that would be a good idea.

"What do you think about kids?" Shadic didn't look at Gothmog as he asked. For all he knew, the Orc might have a problem with it. That made him nervous.

"I'm fine with that," Gothmog said.

Shadic smiled. He was relieved to hear that.

"Should we do that now, or..."

Shadic smiled. He led the Orc to the fortress of Barad-Dur, and went into the throne room. They looked out at the land and Shadic gazed at the Orc lovingly. "Whenever you want," he said. "I'll have to transform into a woman first, of course."

"Okay," Gothmog said. "Go ahead."

Shadic smiled and began to transform. He closed his eyes, unsure of how to look once he was done. Shadic felt his body transforming inside, grimacing at the feeling. The outside didn't change much, unless you knew where to look. Shadic looked down at herself once it was compete. She frowned when she didn't see much of a change. Gothmog stared at her and blushed. She looked at him.

"What do you think?" Shadic was still frowning.

"That's nice," he said. "You could use some more detail, though."

Shadic nodded and closed her eyes, gaining more features of a woman.

"So, how long will it take to take control of Middle-Earth?" Gothmog asked.

Shadic shrugged. "I don't think it'll take too long. Not with all the creatures we have out across the land." Shadic hoped she was right.

Gothmog nodded. "Middle-Earth will fall before our power," he said.

Shadic nodded. "We'll be notified when it's done."

The Orc grinned. "Well...shall we?"

The Dark Lord grinned and nodded. Shadic moved forward and kissed the Orc again. Gothmog kissed him back, and they moved into the bedroom. Shadic wrapped her arms around Gothmog as they moved. They lay down on the bed and the Orc wrapped his arms down her legs. Feeling him lift her legs, Shadic blushed. This was a situation she'd never been prepared for.

"You ready?" Gothmog asked.

Shadic blushed, and then nodded hesitantly. "Go ahead." Her heart was racing as she spoke.

The Orc smirked and kissed her, pressing against the Dark Lord's body fully. Shadic pressed up against him, blush deepening with the kiss. Gothmog moved up her body, moving his hips against hers. They rolled around on the bed, Shadic enjoying every moment of it. Once they were done, they looked at each other lovingly.

"How long will you be in this form?" Gothmog asked.

"A while." Shadic snuggled against Gothmog. She closed her eyes and sighed. With Middle-Earth under their control, they wouldn't have to worry about someone attacking them any time soon. She smiled, nuzzling his chest, and went to sleep.


	23. Shadic's Destiny

Chapter 23: Shadic's Destiny

A few days later, Shadic was sitting on her throne with Gothmog by her side. A Nazgul came to them and bowed.

"Middle-Earth is yours," he said.

Shadic grinned and laughed evilly. She stood up and paced the room. "Now that Middle-Earth is ours, what should we do?" Shadic looked back at the Nazgul. "How many people are still living?"

"The free people of Middle-Earth have been wiped out," the Nazgul said. "Some remain, however. We should enslave them."

Shadic nodded. "Yes, go do that."

The Nazgul nodded and left. Shadic grinned, and turned to looked at her lover.

"What do you want to do now?" She returned to her throne and sat.

"I am not sure," Gothmog told her. "We could go around Middle-Earth and cover the land in darkness."

Shadic thought about it and nodded. "All right." Shadic stood and began walking out of the room. "Where to first?"

Gothmog smirked. "Minas Tirith. It is the End of Days, is it not?"

"Minas Tirith it is."

They walked outside and Shadic began the transformation into a dragon. She grimaced as she did so. Something about the transformation bothered her that time. Once it was done, she looked at Gothmog.

"Are you okay?" Gothmog asked. "You seemed uncomfortable."

"I'm fine. Hop on, and we'll go to Minas Tirith."

The Orc nodded and got on the dragon's back. They flew in the air, and Gothmog noticed that the sky was constantly stormy. Lighting filled the air, as did thunder. The Orc smirked.

"It seems the plan worked," Gothmog said. He ran his hands along Shadic's scales as they flew. Then, a thought struck him. "The end of days doesn't mean the end of the actual planet, does it?"

_I am not sure,_ Shadic told him telepathically. _We'll find out._

Gothmog nodded. He was more than a little concerned, if he what he thought was right. They couldn't very well rule over something if it didn't exist anymore. Soon, they came to Minas Tirith and looked around. Orcs were crawling all over the place, and Shadic turned back to normal. She smirked evilly.

"So Minas Tirith had fallen to the Orcs," she sneered, and looked at Gothmog. "Let's see how things are going."

The Orc nodded and followed Shadic. The other Orcs came to attention when they saw the Dark Lord but were confused at why she was in the form of a woman.

"How are things here?" Shadic asked.

"They are good," Shagrat said. "You and Gothmog are happy?"

The Dark Lord nodded. She looked at her lover. "Very. Right?"

Gothmog smiled. "You said that we needed to spread our evil influence across the land and cover it in darkness?"

Shadic chuckled evilly and nodded. "Yes, so we shouldn't stay here long."

The Orc nodded. "I was thinking that we could get creatures like Balrogs and dragons on our side, and send them throughout Middle-Earth to destroy the land."

"Destroy it?" Shadic was a little confused. "I understand getting those creatures on our side, but why destroy the land?"

"Never mind."

Shadic stared at Gothmog, thinking she might have offended her lover.

Gothmog sighed. "Well, we do need to rule over Middle-Earth and I thought...since you are the Dark Lord, perhaps you can send a message. The land is under our command now, after all."

Shadic nodded. "Displaying that kind of power would keep people following our rule. Do you know anywhere we can find them?"

Gothmog grinned. "The Void."

Shadic sighed. That wasn't something she'd wanted to hear.

The Orc noticed this and frowned. "Did I say something?" He asked, hoping he didn't offend her.

"It's just..." Shadic sighed again. "How am I supposed to get them?"

"Well...we could go through the Door of Night, which leads us there."

"The Door of Night?" Shadic was confused. "How do you know all of this?" Shadic asked. "I've been living in Middle-Earth my entire life, and I don't know some of these things."

Gothmog thought about it and told her. "I think it's the ring you gave me." Gothmog shrugged. "It did come from the Dark Lord."

Shadic nodded; that made sense. She looked down at her own ring: the One Ring. It gave her control of everything on the planet. Shadic closed her eyes and spoke to it. "Where is the Door of Night?" She had no doubt that the ring would enable her to get into the Void, find what she was looking for, and return safely.

The ring glowed. _Shadow and I were looking for it years ago_, Sonic's voice said. _It is on an island far to the west._

"Thanks." Shadic paused. "What do you think of what's happened?"

_You have fulfilled your destiny. For that, I am very proud of you._

"My destiny?" Shadic grinned.

The ring glowed brightly. _Yes. It was your destiny to become the next Dark Lord of Mordor._

Shadic was a little surprised he'd been expected to do that all along. The ring stopped glowing and grew silent. Shadic closed his eyes and used his necromancy powers to call upon the spirits of Melkor, Shadow and Sauron.

"I'm going to the Door of Night," he said. "Any helpful tips?"

"Use your powers to destroy anything in your path if you are confronted," Melkor said.

Shadic nodded. Suddenly, Melkor, Shadow and Sauron fused with him and he felt himself grow much stronger. Shadic looked at herself in slight shock. She hadn't been expecting that to happen. She closed her eyes and communicated with the spirits now fused with her.

"I might need your help once I get there."

_Of course,_ the voice of Sauron said. _We will be glad to._

Shadic nodded and communicated with her father. She was wondering what he would have done to conquer Middle-Earth. "How were you planning on conquering Middle-Earth?"

Shadow chuckled and then told his son. _The same thing you're doing now._

Shadic smiled. She looked at Gothmog, who was talking to the other Orcs. Gothmog saw her and nodded.

"Have you figured out where to go?" The Orc asked.

"There's an island to the west that we have to go to."

Gothmog nodded and watched Shadic turn back into a dragon. He got on the dragon's back and they flew off. Shadic listened to his father's directions to the Door of Night. When he landed, Gothmog jumped from his back and he transformed back. They looked around the island. Shadic smirked as she saw the door and went up to it, wondering how to open it. Gothmog walked up beside her also.

"Found it," she said. "How am I supposed to open it?"

"Concentrate your power on the door and it will open," Sonic's voice said from the ring.

Shadic nodded and closed her eyes. Though she thought it was unnecessary, Shadic placed her hands on the Door. Concentrating, she poured as much of her power into the Door as she could. It opened under her command.

Gothmog saw this and grinned. "After you," he said.

The Dark Lord smirked and walked through the door with Gothmog following after.


	24. The Void

Chapter 24: The Void

Beyond the door was a landscape full of fog and darkness. Voices could be heard in the air, mingling and talking in hushed tones. They looked around and suddenly felt themselves change. When Gothmog and Shadic looked down at their bodies, they saw that they had been turned into ghosts.

"I'm guessing the living aren't allowed here," Shadic said.

Gothmog nodded.

"We were looking for Balrogs and dragons, right?"

"Yes, that's right. You have the power to bring them out of the Void into the living world," the Orc said.

Shadic looked around their dreary surroundings. He didn't know where to start. The two ghosts floated further into the Void, looking for their targets. They came across many ghosts and soon found what they were looking for.

Shadic looked at Gothmog. "Do you think they can understand me?"

"You can turn into a Balrog and a dragon; that way they could understand you," Gothmog said.

Shadic nodded. Gothmog was right. She transformed into a dragon first, leaving the less used transformation for second. After she had done so, she approached the dragon. The dragon, Ancalagon the Black, looked at her. He growled, wondering who this new dragon was. Shadic was nervous, unsure of how to show him that she was a friend. She growled and bowed her head. Shadic concentrated her Dark Powers, and suddenly Ancalagon knew that this was the Dark Lord. She looked at the dragon and spoke.

"I'm in the process of conquering Middle-Earth. I've come to see if you'd like to help me."

Ancalagon growled and nodded. "I will help you," he said. "There are more dragons here that would be glad to help also: Smaug and Glaurung."

Shadic nodded. "Where can I find them?"

The dragon turned around and walked away. Shadic and Gothmog followed him. Soon, they came to the other two dragons.

"Smaug and Glaurung?" Shadic asked.

The two dragons looked at her and nodded. "I'm conquering Middle-Earth, and have come to ask for your assistance."

Glaurung and Smaug nodded. "We'll help."

Shadic smiled. "Well then, we should get going."

"What about the Balrogs?" Gothmog asked.

Shadic transformed back to her normal form. Thinking, she tried to remember what a Balrog looked like. "Do you know where we can find them?" Shadic didn't care who answered.

"They are nearby," Smaug hissed.

They continued to walk. A few minutes later, the Balrogs had appeared. Shadic closed her eyes and transformed. Shadic's body expanded and grew larger. Her fur burnt off her body as she got a charred look to her. Her ears moved as horns forced themselves from the sides of her head. Her face changed and she growled. A whip appeared in her hand, hanging at her side. Everyone's eyes widened in amazement. The Balrog growled and walked over to the other Balrogs, who looked at her.

"I want your help conquering Middle-Earth."

The Balrogs looked at each other and nodded. "We'll help you."

Shadic nodded and turned back to normal as they started to walk out of the Void. As they reached the Door of Night, it closed suddenly. A figure of light shone in front of them. It was Eru Iluvatar, the creator god. Shadic stared at the figure of light.

The god pointed at them. "You cannot pass," he said. "You must stay here as punishment for your actions, Shadic."

"What?" Shadic was surprised.

Eru nodded. He bound Shadic in chains and threw him up against a wall. The Dark Lord tried to escape but couldn't. She glared at the god angrily, wondering why this was happening.

"Why am I locked up here?"

"I cannot allow another Dark Lord to destroy the world," the god said. "The End of Days has come. The world will be destroyed and remade by me. It will be perfect, and no evil shall harm it."

Shadic persistently tried to escape, wriggling against her chains. The god smirked and spoke once more. "You won't be able to get out," he said. "Don't worry about the world."

Shadic's eyes widened and she felt herself changing back into a male. He screamed loudly and struggled against the chains as the god vanished, leaving him in the Void forever.


	25. Chained

Chapter 25: Chained

Shadic looked at the others, still struggling against the chains. "Do something!" He snapped.

Gothmog looked at the Dark Lord. He tried to pull on the chains but they would not come loose. The Balrogs and dragons did also but couldn't. Shadic growled as their efforts were wasted. He pulled on the chains as he whispered. The Dark Lord tried everything but nothing could break the chains surrounding him. He was trapped. After a few minutes, Shadic finally hung in defeat. He couldn't escape, no matter how hard he tried. Eru's magic was too powerful. Shadic sighed and closed his eyes; there was nothing he could do.

"Sorry about this."

Gothmog walked up to him. "It's fine, Shadic. We'll just have to wait it out, I guess."

Shadic looked at the ghost and nodded. He wondered how long it would be until he'd be freed...if he ever was. Shadic sighed as he slumped against the wall. It was a few minutes before he looked at the others again. "Does anyone have any idea how long I'm going to be locked here?"

"Eru said that you would be here forever," Gothmog said.

"Yes, but surely I won't be locked to this wall the entire time."

The Orc shrugged. "Maybe you can ask Melkor; he was also chained here."

Shadic thought hard and called out to Melkor. The Dark Lord's spirit appeared next to Shadic. "I can see that you have met the same fate as I did once," he sneered. "What is it you want?"

"I want to know how you got out," the new Dark Lord said.

Melkor grinned and chuckled. "I was prophesied to return," he said. "That is how I escaped fifteen years ago. Usually, there is no escape from the Void."

Shadic couldn't help but growl at Melkor. The other Dark Lord's sneer was infuriating. "So what am I supposed to do? Just stay here forever? Or somehow return like you did after Eru Iluvatar remakes the world?" Shadic asked.

Melkor looked at Shadic, amusement coming onto his face. "As I said before, I was prophesied to return. You, on the other hand, weren't."

"So how can I escape?"

Melkor shrugged, still sneering at the younger. "Maybe your lover can think of something. You've surrounded yourself with powerful people. I'm sure one of them can come up with something."

Shadow growled in anger at the Dark Lord, struggling on his chains. Melkor's spirit vanished back into Shadic's body, and the new Dark Lord sighed. It was impossible for him to escape.

Shadic looked at Gothmog. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

His lover smiled. "It's fine," Gothmog said. "At least I'm near you."

The Dark Lord nodded and sighed. He hung his head and accepted his fate.

* * *

Three thousand years had passed, and Shadic was still chained to the wall in the Void. He still tried to get himself out at times, if only to pass the time. The Dark Lord had been trapped for a long time, and was not going to get out anytime soon. Shadic was weak. His power had diminished over the years, due to being chained by light for so long. It had also given him plenty of time to think over what had happened.

He sighed; after spending so much time in the Void, it was starting to bore him. Shadic, along with Gothmog, also became ghosts as the living were not allowed in this place.

"Have you thought of any way to pass the time today?" he asked Gothmog.

His lover looked over at him and shook his head. "If we are going to be here forever, we might as well think of something," Gothmog said. He suddenly had an idea. "You could...transform into a female once again. Maybe this time we could have a kid."

Shadic laughed. "With me chained up like this? Interesting." He concentrated his energy on transforming, remembering how Gothmog had wanted her to look the last time.

The ghost became solid as Shadic finished transforming. She looked at Gothmog and beckoned. Gothmog moved toward her, wondering how exactly this was going to work. The Orc held out a hand towards her but it passed through her body. He frowned and looked at his lover.

Shadic frowned as well.

The Orc ghost sighed and looked up at her. "Is there some way that I can become solid?" He asked.

Shadic thought about it and then remembered the ring on Gothmog's finger. "Use your ring."

Gothmog nodded and concentrated on his ring. He felt himself become solid, and smiled at Shadic. The Orc walked up to her and stroked her face fondly.

Shadic leaned her face into his hand, smiling. If she were allowed, she would have moved forward. Shadic looked at him, gaze returning the love found in his. Gothmog smiled and kissed her, pressing his body against hers. The chains were wrapped around Shadic's body and creaked against Gothmog's weight. Shadic pressed her body against his to the best of her abilities. Her lips moved against his, deepening the kiss. The Orc smirked and put a hand on her hips, straddling against them. She gasped in surprise. Her violet eyes looked up at him. A blush was rising to her cheeks as heat flared through her body.

Gothmog smiled. "You look beautiful in this form," he said. Shadic moaned and kissed him. Shadic tried moving against him, whimpering as he held her in place. "Shh...this will only take a few minutes," the Orc said.

Shadic nodded and continued. Pants interrupted the kisses she persisted in giving him. Gothmog held her as close against him as the chains and position would allow. He pressed against her fully and moved his hands up her body, wrapping her legs around his. Shadic shuddered as she did the same. The rattling of the chains grew louder as Gothmog moved faster. Shadic moved along his body as well. Shadic let her head fall back as she whimpered a little. After so long, it was almost too much for her.

Gothmog noticed this and stopped. "Are you okay?" He asked. "If this is too much for you, we can stop."

"No... I'm fine." Shadic gave him a smile.

The Orc smiled and nodded. After a while, the two stopped and lay against each other. Shadic couldn't move because of the chains and sighed. Gothmog turned transparent again.

"When will you..."

Shadic looked at him and shook her head. "I don't know."

Gothmog sighed. "Well, we'll wait. We aren't really going anywhere."

Shadic sighed and nodded sadly. "I wish we could." Shadic shifted position and looked around.

The Orc nodded also."It gets pretty boring here. Since we're ghosts now...do you think we would be allowed to be in the land of the living?"

"I hope so. It would suck to have us get stuck here because of that after getting rid getting rid of these chains."

"Yeah, it would. Would we be ghosts there?"

Shadic thought about it, then nodded. "Most likely."

Gothmog sighed and floated up to Shadic. He sighed and Shadic closed her eyes to sleep.


	26. Planning An Escape

Chapter 26: Planning An Escape

A few months later, Shadic was panting. She felt a pain in her abdomen and looked at her lover.

"It hurts," she whined at him.

"Just push," Gothmog said.

She did so. A few minutes later, a baby boy was born. It was a cross between an Orc and a hedgehog. Shadic smiled faintly at Gothmog. The Orc smiled also. "What should we name him?"

Shadic thought about it. "Maybe Sonic Jr.?" She suggested. "Unless you can think of something else."

Gothmog shook his head. "That's fine. What should we do now?"

Shadic looked around. She could bear this no longer; there had to be some way to escape. The Dark Lord tried to tug on the chains but couldn't get free.

"We need to get out of here," she said. In the state she was currently in, she knew she'd have less of a chance now than she had before.

The Orc nodded. "How, though? You've been chained up for three thousand years."

Shadic felt like crying. She shook her head. "I don't know." She looked at her baby. "I can't properly care for him chained up like this anyway. There has to be some way to get free."

Gothmog sighed. He was eager to leave this place also and get revenge of the god who left them there. They had a planet to conquer.

Shadic tried to transform into something larger, only succeeding in hurting herself. he struggled even more against the chains, trying to break free. But she couldn't; she was too weak and the chains were strong. Sonic Jr. looked at his mother in curiosity. Gothmog set the baby down, moving his hands to Shadic's shoulders. Holding her still, he looked into her eyes.

"Try talking to someone again. Maybe Shadow or Sonic knows something. It's been three centuries. One of them is bound to have figured out something." Soon, Shadow stood before her. She looked up at him with a smile.

"Looks like you're in a pickle," Shadow said.

Shadic nodded. She looked at the ring and heard Sonic's voice coming from it.

_What have you been doing all this time?_

"Well...Gothmog and I have been trapped in here for three thousand years. We need to escape from the Void, but we've been here so long, we're ghosts now. Is there any way to escape?" Shadic asked the ring.

Sonic didn't answer for a few minutes, thinking over what he knew. _One of the Dark Lords would know better than I would._

Shadic nodded and repeated the same thing to Shadow. Shadow thought for a few minutes as well. He looked at the chains holding his son in place. Shaking his head, Shadow sighed. I have no idea," the former Dark Lord said. "Perhaps Melkor knows; he's the only one who escaped this place."

Shadic frowned in annoyance. "The last time I asked him about it, he taunted me."

Shadow sighed and faded back into Shadic's body. A few minutes later Melkor appeared and stood before the Dark Lord. "Still chained up?"

Shadic nodded. "What must I do to escape?"

Melkor seriously thought about it this time. He knew how it was to be chained in place like this. Finally, he came up with something and looked at Shadic. "Perhaps you could regain your power. That might help you."

Shadic nodded. She assumed that would take a while, though. "The chains are what drained my power in the first place."

Melkor thought about it some more. "Focus on your hatred and evil power; that is what I did. Or, you could create your own Ring of Power and pour your soul into it, casting it out into Arda and hope someone finds it."

"Well, it shouldn't be hard for me to focus on my hatred. But... What's Arda?"

Sonic Jr. cried then, reaching toward his mother. Shadic smiled. She tried to reach her son but couldn't.

"Arda is another name for Middle-Earth," Melkor said.

Shadic nodded her acknowledgement, still trying to reach her son. "How do I make a ring of power? The only one I've got is Sonic."

"Ask Shadow; he has made one. So has Sauron."

The Dark Lord nodded and summoned the others. "How do I make a ring of power?" Shadic asked.

Shadow and Sauron grinned. They sent their power into Shadic. Her eyes widened as she gained the knowledge of ring-forging, and nodded.

"I'll do it once I've got some power back," she said.

The former Dark Lords nodded, and then vanished. Shadic looked at Gothmog and their son. She gave the two of them a smile.

"Have you found out how to escape?" Gothmog asked her.

"Yes. They told me to regain my powers by focusing on my hatred and evil powers. Melkor said I should make a ring and send it into Middle-Earth, as well."

The Orc chuckled evilly and nodded. "Excellent," he said. "Once we are out of here...if we can get out, since we're ghosts...I'd like to get revenge on Eru Ilúvatar. So, how long will this all take?"

Shadic sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. Hopefully not too long."

"Alright. We'll just wait."

Shadic nodded. She sighed, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.


	27. A New World

Chapter 27: A New World

Ten years later, Shadic finally got free. She stretched and looked around, then saw Gothmog and their son. The two adult ghosts walked towards the Door of Night, trying to push it open. The Door refused to budge. Shadic growled in anger, wondering how to open the door. Knowing it wasn't going to do any good, she kicked it.

"Open up!" She yelled.

The door still wouldn't open. Shadic's eyes widened. Was this it? Did she get freed, along with Gothmog just to become trapped in the Void forever as ghosts?

"Dammit," she said. "This isn't fair."

Gothmog walked up beside her. "The door won't open?"

Shadic nodded. She closed her eyes and tried to transform back into a male; she had more power that way. The transformation went smoothly, her body shifting back into a male.

He groaned in pain; Shadic had been a female for too long. He was surprised the transformation hadn't become permanent. Focusing all of his power, he let out a blast of dark energy towards the door. The energy slammed into the door, pushing it farther open the longer he held it there. Shadic grinned as he and Gothmog walked through it. Their son followed. Suddenly, they encountered a rush of energy as they were transported back into Middle-Earth. They looked at each other but saw that they were still ghosts.

Shadic and Gothmog both looked at Sonic Jr. He stared at his parents, confused as to why he could see through them. They looked at each other and sighed. Shadic tried to touch his son but his hand went right through Sonic Jr.'s body. Gothmog experienced the same thing.

"Why are you so weird?" he asked them. He tried to touch them, but his hand went through them as well.

"Son...we spent so much time in the Void that it caused us to...well...become ghosts," Shadic told him.

"Like being dead?" Jr.'s eyes starting filling with tears. "How are you going to look after me?"

Shadic and Gothmog looked at each other; they hadn't expected this. Not only did they have to take care of their son, but they also had to conquer Middle-Earth once more.

"Sonic looked after me while he was a ghost," Shadic said. "I had to learn to do things on my own fairly early, and you're going to have to do that now."

Sonic Jr. nodded. They looked around; everything looked different. A few minutes later, Shadic figured it out. The world had indeed ended, and the First Age of Middle-Earth had begun again. The Dark Lord grinned; he could use this to his advantage and cover the land in darkness once again.

"The people of this new Middle-Earth won't know what to do about us," he told Gothmog. "We should use that to our advantage and..." Shadic silenced himself, looking at Jr. suddenly. "How do you suppose they'll react when they see him?"

Gothmog thought about it. Sonic Jr. was a hybrid of an Orc and a hedgehog. He wasn't sure.

Jr. looked between his parents in confusion. "Something's wrong with me too?"

"No," Gothmog said. "Nothing is wrong with you. You just look different."

"Why don't we find out before getting upset?" Shadic suggested.

Sonic Jr. nodded. "Is there any way I can find out what I look like?" He asked.

Shadic thought. "A mirror's the obvious choice. But water can do the trick too. I'm not sure how well you'd be able to see it if I transformed."

"Alright," his son said.

Shadic closed his eyes and concentrated on becoming water. His body essentially melted until he was a puddle of water at his son's feet. Sonic Jr.'s eyes widened in surprise and then looked at his reflection in the water. What he saw didn't seem all that strange to him. He had a face, nose and quills like Shadic. Horns stuck off his head up near his ears. Pointed teeth could be seen without him even needing to open his mouth. Deep red eyes stared at him, seemingly stuck in a permanent glare. Jr. ran a hand down the side of his face, moving it to his mouth as he opened it. All of his teeth were pointed. Leaning down to get a closer look, he realized his nose was actually a bit flatter than Shadic's.

"This is...an interesting look," he said. "I like it."

The puddle of water turned back into Shadic, who smiled. "I'm glad you do. Don't let anyone tell you that you shouldn't."

Sonic Jr. nodded and tried touching his ghost parents again, but his hand went right through their bodies. He sighed in disappointment. Shadic smiled sadly. He'd had the same problem with his, but he doubted this problem could be fixed so easily.

Gothmog chuckled. "This land is cool. Too bad we have to conquer and rule it."

"What do you mean?" Sonic Jr. asked.

Shadic looked at his son. "We are planning to conquer all of Middle-Earth," he said.

Sonic Jr's eyes widened. "Why?"

"That's what we were intending to do when we got stuck in the Void."

Sonic Jr. thought about it and nodded.

Gothmog looked at him. "Your mother is the Dark Lord, so we're obviously going to be doing evil things."

"We won't let anything happen to you," Shadic said.

"Okay," Sonic Jr. said. "Hey, I've been thinking: can I have a nickname? I like my name but it seems to long."

"Did you have something in mind?" Shadic smiled at his son.

"Silvond."

Shadic looked at Gothmog. "I think it's fine. What about you?"

Gothmog nodded. "Sure. We'll call you Silvond from now on."

Silvond smiled. "Thanks," he said, and looked at Shadic. "You said you wanted to take control of Middle-Earth, right? Where should we start?"

"We don't know much about this new time," Shadic said. "Maybe we should get a feel for it, first."

Gothmog nodded. "What should we do?"

Shadic thought about it. "Let's find a town. Silvond can talk to people and get us information."

Silvond nodded. He turned into a wolf and ran towards the nearest town as the two ghosts followed. Once they got to the town, Silvond turned back to normal and looked around. They were in the city of Rohan.


	28. Construction

Chapter 28: Construction

Shadic smiled as he remembered his hometown. "Doesn't look like it's changed much," he remarked.

Silvond looked at the ghost. "You've been here before?"

Shadic nodded. "This was my hometown."

"Really?"

Shadic nodded and told his son what he needed to do. "Ask around. The people living here will be able to tell you about how the world is now. Just make sure you're polite."

Silvond nodded and ran off. He saw a group of people and walked up to them. Their eyes widened in horror as they saw him but he smiled.

"Hello," he said kindly. "I'm new here, and i was just wondering...what is the world like now?"

The people looked at each other. Turning away from Silvond, they discussed amongst themselves what to say to him before turning back around.

Silvond smiled, and a man walked up to him. He looked at Silvond and smiled back, then replied.

"What are you comparing it to? Middle-Earth hasn't changed much since the fall of the last Dark Lord. Obviously, the world isn't in chaos anymore, but..." The man shrugged. "It's peaceful now."

Silvond's eyes widened and he nodded. "And who was the last Dark Lord?"

The man thought for a minute before responding. "I think his name was Shadic? Something like that."

"I see," Silvond said. "Thank you." The man nodded and Silvond walked off. He came to Shadic and spoke. "I found someone who said it hadn't changed much since you were defeated. It's just peaceful, instead of chaotic."

Shadic thought about it and grinned, chuckling evilly. "So they wouldn't be able to react well if something were to happen."

"No," Silvond said. "But if this is the First Age all over again...shouldn't it have been Melkor who was defeated? That's what happened in the original First Age of Middle-Earth."

"Perhaps somethings have changed," Gothmog told him.

Shadic nodded. "But why would it be me instead of Melkor? I wasn't supposed to get out."

"I do not know. But look at this this way: you get a second chance to conquer Middle-Earth."

"You are going to help, aren't you?" Shadic asked Silvond.

Silvond nodded. "Of course. You are my father, along with Gothmog. I don't care if you are evil; I will help you."

"We'll help you any way we can, as well."

"Thanks, dad. So, where do we start? Do we head back to Mordor, or go to Angband?"

Shadic thought about it. He had never been to Angband before, and that was another evil fortress. Perhaps he could rule from there. "Why don't we check out Angband?"

Silvond nodded and transformed into a griffin as Gothmog and Shadic floated above him.

_What about that ring you made?_ He said to Shadic telepathically. _It's here on Middle-Earth somewhere. Should we find it?_

Shadic had almost forgotten about that. "I should." He looked at Gothmog, wondering if he had any ideas.

The Orc ghost nodded and concentrated his power on the ring that he had, trying to sense Shadic's. A few minutes later, he opened his eyes and smirked. "This is almost too easy," he said. "Your ring is near Angband."

Shadic smirked and looked down at the ring on his finger. "I should probably give one to Silvond."

_You can give yours to me,_ Silvond said. _I don't mind._

"Once we find it, you can have it." He looked at the ring on his finger again. "At least I won't have to use it the way this one was used on me."

The griffin screeched and flew on. Hours later, they reached Angband. Silvond landed and they got off; the griffin returned to normal and looked around.

"So, this is Angband," he said.

Gothmog sighed. "It's not much, but we can add to it."

Shadic nodded. "Where should we start?" He asked. "We'll need help with this." He watched as Silvond started examining the area.

"We could add a few more towers to the fortress," Silvond said. "Any other ideas?"

Shadic shook his head. "It depends on what we want to use it for."

"Maybe...a prison?" Gothmog asked. "Or a torture chamber?"

Shadic grinned and nodded. "Those will work nicely."

Silvond nodded. "Well then, let's get started."

"We should get something to help us our with this. We can't do it all by ourselves."

"I agree," Gothmog said. "There are Orcs around here, along with other evil creatures. We should have them help us."

Silvond smirked. "I'll go look for them. Where are they usually?"

"Cirith Ungol, if it's still here," Gothmog said. "Don't know if things work the same here, but it's worth a shot."

"Alright; I'll head there now."

Silvond transformed into a phoenix and flew off towards Mordor. Gothmog looked at Shadic and smiled. "Perhaps you can transform into an object that will help us build," the Orc said.

Shadic nodded. "What would prefer?" He started focusing on his energy before he'd gotten an answer.

Gothmog thought about it. "Maybe a crane or something like that?"

The Dark Lord nodded and started to transform. Once he had done so, the crane started working.

* * *

While his parents worked on that, Silvond was watching the land go by beneath him. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say to the Orcs.

The phoenix got to Mordor in no time at all due to his speed, and landed near Cirith Ungol. He saw the Orcs and grinned, then walked up to them.

"The Dark Lord is in need of your services," he said. "You must come to Angband immediately."

The nearest Orcs looked at him in confusion.

"There is no Dark Lord," one of them said.

Silvond sneered. "That's where you're wrong. Shadic, the Dark Lord, has returned. I am his son."

The Orcs looked at each other. If the Dark Lord was back, then they would have to go.

"That would explain his appearance," a different Orc said.

The Orcs spoke to each other before finally nodding at Silvond. "We will come," the Orc said. "You have features that we have, by the way...who is your other parent?"

"An Orc. His name is Gothmog."

The Orc's eyes widened and he spoke to the others. Silvond was confused by their reactions. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," the Orc said. "We have heard of Gothmog. Very well, then. We shall come with you to Angband."

"How long will it take?"

"We will be there within a week if we travel fast enough."

"All right. I'll tell them." Shadic transformed into a phoenix again and took flight. When he got back to Angband, he turned back to normal and saw that Gothmog was working on the fortress. A crane was next to them, operating on its own. Silvond assumed that it was Shadic.

"They said they could get here in a week if they went fast enough." He ran over as he spoke. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Gothmog thought about it and nodded. "We need more machines to make this faster. Can you use your powers to transform into a machine?"

"What kind? Something like dad?"

The Orc thought about it. "Possibly."

Silvond nodded and began to transform. He got down as he focused on what he was supposed to do. His hands became the shovel at the front of the machine. Arms and legs became the tread for it to move on, and his body altered to fill in the gap. Everything became metal as it shifted. The body of the machine came next, and the the transformation completed. The machine turned itself toward where it thought the towers were supposed to go. Then, it got to work.


	29. Returning to Mordor

Chapter 29: Returning to Mordor

A week went by and the Orcs showed up. They got to working vigorously until, finally, the two towers were complete. Shadic smiled, looking up at what they had achieved. He looked at the Orcs who had helped them then.

"Will you help us conquer Middle-Earth?"

"Yes, we will help," the lead Orc said. He, along with the other Orcs, bowed.

Shadic nodded and looked at his son, who had found the ring that he made. "You need some practice," he said. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'll figure it out myself," Silvond said. He smiled at the ghost. "So, what's our first step of conquering Middle-Earth? The people obviously think that you are gone. We should use that to our advantage."

"It's not as if anything can tell them otherwise, either." Shadic thought about what they should do. Sending out Orcs might make people start to get suspicious.

"They will know that you are back eventually," Gothmog said. "Send out the Orcs first and then more evil creatures later. We must go to Mordor and wake the Nazgul."

"All right." Shadic looked back at the Orcs. "Go start attacking people. Tell the other Orcs the news, as well."

The Orcs nodded and ran off. Shadic smirked; no one was going to expect this. The ghost of the Dark Lord chuckled and looked at Gothmog.

"How long should we wait until waking the Nazgul?"

Gothmog thought about it. "That depends. How long do you think it will take to gain control of Middle-Earth?"

"Maybe a few months."

Silvond heard this and grinned. "Then why not start now?"

Shadic thought about it and nodded. He floated up to his son and tried to hug him but his body went right through Silvond's. He sighed. "I wish I could hug you."

"Same here. You'd have to transform into an animal or object in order for me to hold you."

The Dark Lord nodded. Then he remembered the time when he and Sonic transformed into cats in order to do that, and he grinned. "I could transform into a cat."

Silvond's eyes widened. "Sure, that would be great! Want me to turn into one also?"

Shadic smiled and gave a thumbs up. The two stood, looking at one another. They both closed their eyes, concentrating. The transformation pushed both of them onto all fours. Longer tails squished behind them as the rest of their bodies finished the transformation. Their noses shrank, and whiskers grew from their cheeks. The two also shrank in size. Their hands and feet became paws and their fur got fluffier. Once the transformation was done, they stretched.

_I've always loved this form,_ Shadic said in cat language, and looked at his son. _What do you want to do?_

Silvond thought about it, looking around. _Maybe we could wander the fortress like this?_

Shadic nodded and padded into the fortress. Silvond followed him. The two cats looked around the fortress, exploring the interior of the place. The Dark Lord grinned; this would be a good place to rule.

_It'll be fun to rule from here,_ Shadic said. He moved forward and rubbed his face with his son's. _I love you,_ he purred.

_Love you too,_ Silvond said. The two cats lay down next to each other, yawning. _You're right, this is a cool form. I wouldn't mind if I had this become permanent. We can do that, right? Make our transformations permanent?_

Shadic nodded. _My mother thought about doing that when I was younger,_ he commented. Shadic moved a bit closer to his son. _I wouldn't mind that._

Silvond purred. _When should we do that?_

Shadic wasn't sure. _I was actually..._ Shadic looked at his son and sighed. _Maybe later._

This confused Silvond. He turned back to normal, as did Shadic, and they looked at each other. "What do you mean?"

"I was thinking of transforming into Barad-Dur permanently."

Silvond looked surprised at this. "Oh...okay," he said. "Yeah, that's fine."

"I could change my mind," Shadic said. "We have a fortress here, and it's not like I can be any use to people as a building."

"That's okay, I understand. Why do you want to be Barad-Dur forever, anyway? I'm just wondering."

"It's the Dark Lord's fortress." Shadic shrugged. "Of course, it can't be my fortress very well if I am the fortress."

Silvond nodded and smiled. "Go ahead," he said. "I don't really mind. When are you planning on doing that?"

"Sometime after we return to Mordor."

"Okay. Well, shall we go there now and awaken the Nazgul?"

The Dark Lord nodded. They walked out of Angband and saw Gothmog waiting for them."We're going to awaken the Nazgul now," Shadic told Gothmog.

The Orc ghost sneered and nodded. Silvond turned into a giant eagle and flew off as the ghosts sat on his back. When they got to Mordor, they saw that the tower of Barad-Dur had not been built yet. Shadic sighed; this was another reason why he wanted the permanent transformation. Silvond looked back at his parents, needing direction of where to go.

Shadic pointed to Minas Morgal. A few minutes later, Silvond nodded and turned back to normal. Gothmog and Shadic floated up to the doors of the tower and pushed them open as they went inside. Silvond followed his parents into the fortress, looking around in anticipation. A few minutes later, they saw the nine Ringwraiths entombed in the rock wall. Shadic closed his eyes and focused on the power of his ring. It glowed brightly, sending dark energy out to each Nazgul. Suddenly, they shuddered and broke out of the wall. The Nine saw the Dark Lord and bowed before him.


	30. The Fortress of Barad-Dur

Chapter 30: The Fortress of Barad-Dur

Silvond stared at the Ringwraiths as his father spoke to them. "I have returned, and am in need of your assistance." He gave them a smile. The Nazgul nodded and stood up, waiting for their orders. Shadic considered what he wanted them to do. "Go out and look around Middle-Earth. I want to know what places might prove difficult to conquer. Don't attack anyone just yet. Not unless you're provoked."

The Ringwraiths nodded and vanished in a flash of light. Shadic grinned and walked out of Minas Morgal. He looked around Mordor, looked at the place where Barad-Dur was supposed to be, and sighed. He looked at his son and spoke.

"I think I will become Barad-Dur. It's strange not seeing it there. Are you sure you won't mind?"

Silvond shook his head. "No, it's fine."

Shadic nodded. He went to the place where Barad-Dur was supposed to be, closed his eyes, and began to transform. Energy began swirling around him as he concentrated. All of Shadic's color faded to black as he focused on his memory of Barad-Dur. From the waist down, his body became a kind of liquid, spreading across the ground. The foundations of the fortress took root as the outer wall built itself. The back turned to what looked like a pile of crumbling rock, some of it coming up and around. Those sections appeared to be two three-fingered hands rocky hands holding him. Thin sections of the wall jutted out set distances from each other along the curved wall. Small watchtowers came out from the walls between these sections. The gateway pulled itself out from the wall as twin towers came up on either side of it. The right side of the wall angled up to a small tower, followed by a small path to the central body. An identical tower came up on the left side, right where the wall found the rocky back.

Behind the wall, the fortress began constructing itself. The area between the outer wall and the main fortress fell in, leaving a wide path between the two. Vertical indents ran down the length of both walks, adding detail to the fortress. Inverted archways connected the walls, curving upward from the top of the outer wall to meet the to of the other. Behind that, the third and last fortified wall took shape. A castle formed on top of the fortress, partially hidden behind the lower of the strange rock formations. From there, the tower began forming.

Shadic lifted his arms above his head on impulse, positioning his hands as if he held an orb between them. His body then began finishing the transformation. A grimace was still on his face ad he continued pouring energy into it. Large headquills flattened and molded to his back as he began stretching uncomfortably. The rest of the fortress expanded and stretched as needed to match. By the time it had stopped, Shadic had essentially grown to the impressive height of five thousand feet. Smaller towers and arched doorways defined themselves on his body and arms. That same strange liquid filled the gap between his arms, quickly hardening into stone. His hands became the top of the tower, fingers forming the two points that would've held the Eye of Sauron. Every intricate detail carved itself into the walls as the insides were formed.

To complete the transformation, another powerful beam of energy ripped into the land beneath and carved the dungeons into the ground. A chasm was torn around the fortress, leaving only the gateway and bridge standing.

Once it was finished, the fortress of Barad-Dur stood in his place permanently. Silvond's eyes widened and he walked inside it, looking around. It was massive, and incredible. The fortress stood towering over the land, its foundations rooted on the ground.

"Dad?" He asked.

A few minutes went by but he heard nothing. Gothmog entered the building shortly after Silvond. He ran his hand along one of the walls. The Orc had seen Shadic transform into many things, but never something of this magnitude. It was impressive, to say the least. The Orc smirked and walked around the fortress, marveling at its impressive structure. Silvond was impressed as well. He looked around, wondering if the Nazgul would listen to either of them now that Shadic was the fortress.

Silvond looked back at his other dad. "Why?" He asked. "Why did he do it? I thought he wanted to regain control of Middle-Earth."

"I'm not sure." Gothmog placed a hand on the wall of the fortress. The decision had him confused as well.

The Orc/hedgehog hybrid sighed and nodded. "Perhaps he wanted to become Barad-Dur to see his rule everywhere. What better way to do that than to transform into the fortress itself?"

Gothmog smiled. "That makes sense." He sighed. "We'll just have to make sure it happens."

Silvond nodded. "Well, then...let's take control of Middle-Earth."

The Orc grinned evilly. "We should wait for the Nazgul to return."

"Yes, we should," Silvond said. He and Gothmog went up to the throne room and looked around. Silvond sat on the chair and sighed. "Dad...are you there?" He asked, his voice echoing across the room.

Gothmog sighed. He didn't like seeing his son like this. The room stayed silent, and Silvond hung his head. "I guess he can't speak as the fortress." The Orc placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a smile. Silvond looked up and him, smiling also. He wondered if he could use his ring to give Gothmog shapeshifting powers. The hybrid closed his eyes, focusing on the ring, and sent a beam of light towards the Orc, which hit him. "I gave you the power to shapeshift," Silvond said. "Can you try transforming into Shadic?"

Gothmog nodded and closed his eyes. In a few minutes, he began to transform. First, he shrank. Then, his body became covered in the blue fur Shadic had. Long quills came from the back of his head as he grimaced at the feeling. A single black stripe stood out on top of his head, running between his ears. His nose grew longer, sticking off the front of his face at an angle. His eyes turned violet as his teeth shrank and grew less pointed. The horns on his head retracted painfully. He held his aching head and gave his son a smile. His body hadn't changed quite as significantly, unless you counted the fact that Shadic was naturally thinner and less muscular than Gothmog.

Silvond smiled. "Thanks," he said.

"Do you feel any better now?"

"Yeah, I do."

Gothmog smiled and hugged his son. "I'm glad you do," he kissed the top of Silvond's head. "As long as this fortress stands, Shadic will still be with us. In a manner of speaking."

"Yeah...I guess you're right. I mentioned earlier that we transform into cats permanently. Do you want to do that later?"

Gothmog chuckled. "Perhaps."

Silvond nodded. A few minutes later, the Nazgul walked in and bowed before them.

"What did you find?" Gothmog asked them. He just hoped he could understand whatever they had to say.

"We found some places you can conquer," one said.

"Any I know of?" Gothmog wasn't certain how much the world had changed.

"Minas Tirith, Rohan, and some other places."

Gothmog nodded. He remembered those. Conquering them would serve them well. He grinned and motioned for the Nazgul to leave, then looked at Silvond. "Those are human cities," he said. "It shouldn't be too hard to conquer them."

Silvond nodded. "Let's go, then. Are you going to stay in Shadic's form, or..."

"Did you want me to?" Gothmog asked. "I'm not sure how well I'd be able to fight in this form."

"If you want to."

"I think I'll change back for a while. Just tell me when you want to see Shadic again."

Silvond nodded and watched Gothmog turned back to normal. He sighed in disappointment. Gothmog stretched and gave Silvond a small smile.

"Don't worry. You'll be able to see Shadic again sometime."

"Okay," Silvond said. "Let's head to Minas Tirith now."

Gothmog nodded. "Who should we bring with us?"

"Bring some of the Orcs with us, and a few of the Nazgul."

"That's a good idea. Why don't you gather them?"

Silvond nodded and walked out of the fortress. Gothmog sighed and looked around Barad-Dur, thinking about Shadic.

"I suppose Silvond's idea makes sense," he told the fortress. "I can't think of any other reason for you to want to permanently become Barad-Dur." Gothmog lay one of his hands on the wall, wishing he could talk to Shadic. He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to communicate with the fortress. Unfortunately, no voice came. Gothmog persistently waited a few minutes longer before giving up. With another sigh, he left the fortress.


	31. Search for the Ring

Chapter 31: Search for the Ring  


A few minutes later, Gothmog saw Silvond talking with the Orcs and Nazgul. He smiled and walked up to him. "Have you figured out who's coming with us?"

"This group of Orcs," Silvond said. He gestured to the group as he spoke. "I figured we wouldn't need too many of the Nazgul. They are pretty powerful, after all."

Gothmog nodded. "They will work."

Silvond smiled. "Are we leaving soon?"

"Yeah, we're leaving now."

The Orcs and Nazgul that Silvond had chosen were ready to leave. Silvond transformed into a hydra and roared, flying into the air. The Orcs and Nazgul followed him with Gothmog floating behind. It took them a while to reach Minas Tirith. Once they got there, the people looked up and screamed as they saw the creatures invade the city. Silvond was still in the form of a hydra and growled.

Gothmog looked down on the city as they attacked. It was all going well. With Minas Tirith out of the way, Gothmog hoped the humans would have an even harder time going against them. He chuckled and floated down into the city. Perhaps, as a ghost, he had powers besides shapeshifting. Gothmog thought over everything he knew about ghosts. He knew they could possess people, become invisible and intangible also. But he was already transparent, so intangibility was already being used. Gothmog took a deep breath. Possessing someone couldn't be that hard. He just had to decide who to possess.

He looked around the city, wondering who to possess. Perhaps he could possess one of the Nazgul. Gothmog watched as the Nazgul fought the humans. They were doing a fine job on their own, but he wanted to be in the battle. He smirked and closed his eyes, possessing one of the Nazgul. It was startled for a moment, fighting back as he took over. Gothmog swung its weapon a few times, grinning. He'd always been curious what it would feel like to be a Nazgul. This was pretty cool. He took control of its body and began to fight. He attacked the humans along with the other Nazgul and Orcs, relishing the powers the different body gave him. Silvond was still a hydra, burning get the city with his fire breath. His comrades stayed out of the fire's path, killing anyone lucky enough to avoid being burnt to a crisp. Gothmog and the other Nazgul especially kept their distance, eventually running off to slaughter the humans in a different section of town.

Minutes later the city was completely destroyed. The hydra killed people using its nine heads ans soon Minas Tirith was devoid of life. Gothmog released his hold on the Nazgul before going to Silvond.

"We did it," the ghost Orc said. "Minas Tirith is ours."

Silvond nodded and turned back to normal before chuckling evilly. "This is actually kind of fun," he said. A thought struck him and he asked: "Should we go tell Dad?"

Gothmog nodded. "He can't speak to us, though. I already tried."

"We can still tell him. I'm sure he'd like to know how it's going."

Silvond nodded and transformed once more. They reached Barad-Dur and walked inside, looking around. It was massive, and they knew that it used to be Shadic.

"Dad," he called. "I know you can't talk to me, but I wanted to tell you that we've taken Minas Tirith." The fortress remained silent. Silvond sighed and spoke, his voice echoing across its massive rooms. "I miss you. Why did you have to do this?" Silvond sat on the floor. He didn't know; all that he could think of was the theory he came up with. "You probably don't need me telling you that we're succeeding, huh?"

Silvond sighed. Talking to buildings wasn't something people normally did. He stood after a few moments. "We should finish conquering the humans." Silvond sighed in disappointment and closed his eyes, concentrating his power on the ring. He could feel the energy turning him evil. "I'm already doing it," he told the ring. "Do you just naturally do that or something?"

The ring glowed in response. Silvond sighed again and walked off in search of Gothmog. He might know something about the ring. Once he saw the Orc, he walked up to him.

"What do these rings that we are wearing do?" He asked.

"Their power can corrupt the wearer. That same power is what makes us so strong. The rings have many other powers, but I never learned how to do most of them."

Silvond nodded. "So, if I keep focusing my power on this ring, it will make me evil?"

Gothmog nodded.

"What about the ring that dad was wearing? Did it fall off when he transformed, or what?"

Gothmog's eyes widened a bit. That hadn't occurred to him until then. "If it did, it might be hard to find."

"That ring was Sonic, right? How can we find it?"

Gothmog thought. Maybe they could find it the same way he'd figured out where Silvond's was.

"But what if it stayed on his finger during the transformation?" Silvond asked. "Dad said he couldn't take it off at all."

He shrugged. "I doubt we'd be able to find it then."

Silvond nodded and gulped, then concentrated on his ring trying to find where the other ring was. A vision came to him and he saw Shadic transforming into Barad-Dur, with the ring still on his finger. He gasped; it hadn't come off and was fused with the fortress.

"It's part of the fortress," he said.

"Why were you asking, anyway?" Gothmog asked. "Curiosity?"

"Yeah, I was just curious."

Gothmog nodded. "Where in the fortress is it?"

Silvond looked again, trying to figure out where it was this time. "It was where his hand was, so...probably in the pinnacle near the Eye of Sauron," Silvond said.

"Do you want to get it?" The Orc asked.

Silvond looked at him. "I at least want to see if it's safe."

Gothmog nodded and walked with Silvond to the top of the tower. They walked outside and gasped at the height they were at; they could see for miles. "This must be one of the highest places in Middle-Earth," Gothmog said.

"This tower...it's massive," Silvond said. He turned around and saw the two pinnacles where the Eye of Sauron used to be, and looked for the ring. Gothmog helped, looking at the pinnacle that Silvond wasn't. The examined the two pinnacles "I don't see it," Silvond said. Then he saw something gold inside a pinnacle. He knelt down in front of it, running his fingers over the surface. "Here it is," he told the Orc. "The ring's been carved into the pinnacle. See?"

Gothmog looked over his shoulder at the ring. "Well, I doubt anyone could get it out of there. Looks like a safe place for it to me."

Silvond sighed and nodded. "This ring used to be Sonic...my grandfather."

"Were you hoping you could see him?"

"I...I was hoping...to have the ring as a memento."

Gothmog smiled. "You've still got me."

Silvond's eyes widened as he saw Gothmog pass straight through him, and he started to cry. "I wish we could touch each other," he said. "Can you transform into Shadic...please? I still don't understand why he chose to transform into this fortress forever."

Gothmog stepped back and transformed into Shadic. Wrapping his arms around Silvond again, he wished he could help him more than this. But Shadic's decision had him confused as well. Suddenly, Gothmog held his head in pain and straightened up. He smiled.

"Hello, son," he said in Shadic's voice.


	32. Shadic

Chapter 32: Shadic

"Dad?" Silvond asked, surprised. "What...how...?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. But I don't mind."

Silvond smiled. "Shadic...Dad...can you tell me...why did you transform yourself into Barad-Dur?"

Shadic closed his eyes in thought. He sighed and opened them, and then told his son. "A bunch of reasons, I guess. We needed a fortress, and this one's known for housing Dark Lords." Shadic knew that was pathetic at best; they easily could've used one of the others. "Mordor looked kind of empty without it, as well." In the grand scheme of things, that shouldn't have mattered. "Maybe I did it because it could be a sign of the Dark Lord actually being here."

"I miss you," he said. "But...I guess you'll still be here in the form of the fortress."

Seeing Silvond, Shadic wondered if it had been the right thing to do. Maybe stupid decisions ran in the family. He sighed and hugged Silvond again. A smile came to his face. "I still love you, even if I am a fortress." He gave Silvond a kiss on the cheek. "Keep me in your heart, and you'll never lose me."

Silvond nodded and smiled also. "Why can't you talk as the fortress?"

Shadic shrugged. "I assume it's because I'm a fortress. I can hear you, though."

"I see. That's interesting."

Shadic smiled. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, Gothmog was back in control. He looked at Silvond, slight confusion on his face. "What happened?" He asked.

"Dad took over," Silvond said.

"How?"

Silvond shook his head. He had no idea how Shadic had suddenly taken control like that. "I don't know. I was just glad to talk to him again."

Gothmog nodded. He closed his eyes and tried to transform back but couldn't. "Well, you can see him at least. Both of us are here now." He gave Silvond a smile.

Silvond sighed in relief and nodded. He looked back at the ring that was stuck in the pinnacle. "What should we do about the ring?"

Gothmog looked at the ring as well. "If it's stuck, I don't think we need to worry about anything happening to it... Did you want to try and move it?"

"We can try."

"Any ideas on how we can take it out?" He asked Silvond.

Silvond thought about it. "I don't think brute strength would work, and we'd hurt Dad anyway. So... Magic, maybe?"

Gothmog nodded. He and Silvond closed their eyes, summoning dark magic. A few minutes later, the ring started to move slightly and then dislodged itself from the pinnacle, flying onto one of Silvond's fingers. Silvond smiled, looking at his finger.

"Seems like it wanted you to get it," Gothmog said.

"Yeah," he said, and then looked around. "We better head back."

Gothmog nodded and he and Silvond went back down into the fortress.


	33. The Fall of Gondolin

Chapter 33: The Fall of Gondolin

Going into the fortress, they went to the throne room. Gothmog looked at the throne and sighed. "We should resume conquering Middle-Earth. You don't have any problems with that, right?"

Silvond shook his head. "No, not at all. I may as well become evil like you and Shadic. I am the Dark Lord's heir, after all."

Gothmog chuckled. It made sense for Silvond to follow their footsteps. Since he had two rings now, Gothmog figured he was definitely strong enough to be the Dark Lord. "You're strong enough to take his place now," he said.

Silvond thought about it and nodded, chuckling evilly. He closed his eyes, focused his power on the rings, and let all of their evil power flow into him. Silvond released a shaky breath as he allowed the power to fill him completely. A few minutes later, the evil power of the rings completely corrupted him and he let out a menacing laugh. "I feel incredible!" He told Gothmog. "So much power...now, come! It is time we conquer the rest of this pathetic planet."

Gothmog nodded. "Where do you wish to begin?"

"Anywhere in Middle-Earth. Do you have any suggestions?"

"The elves might prove to be a nuisance if we leave them alone. We should do something about them."

Silvond nodded. "Well then, let's strike Gondolin and Doriath."

"Are we dividing, or going together?"

"We could go together. What do you think?"

"It might be best if we sent the Nazgul to one of the cities," he suggested. "With the powers you now possess, it shouldn't take much more than the two of us."

The new Dark Lord nodded, and then summoned the Nazgul. "Go to Rivendell and wipe out the elves there," he said.

They nodded, and left. Silvond looked at Gothmog. "Let's head to Gondolin. It is time to show the elves that the Dark Lord has returned."

Gothmog tilted his head in agreement. "The fall of the elves might cause the other races to prepare themselves. We will have to prepare for their attack, no matter how pathetic it will be." They both left the room as they spoke.

A few hours later, the two reached Gondolin. Gothmog looked upon the city, standing alongside Silvond. He turned his attention to his son.

"When do you want to start?"

"Anywhere is fine by me," Silvond said.

Gothmog nodded. He drew his weapon, along with Silvond, and the two advanced into the city.

Gothmog looked at Silvond before starting. They both used their rings, launching powerful attacks. The elves were surprised and had no time to launch a counter attack; they were completely unprepared. Silvond turned into a Balrog, using his ax and whip to set the city on fire. Gothmog only helped where he thought it was necessary, mostly killing anyone who tried running. The power Silvond was displaying was enough to decimate most of the elven force.

The two Rings of Power that Silvond had was enhancing his own dark powers exponentially. He laughed as he cracked his whip, hitting a group of elves and burning them alive. The arrows the elves shot did nothing to slow him down or stop him. Gothmog looked and smiled at his progress. The Balrog roared and set its sights on the remaining elves before raising its whip in one hand and the ax in the other, bringing them both down. A bright flash of fire appeared, instantly vaporizing almost every one of the elves. Then it roared and flapped its wings, taking to the sky.

The remaining elves stared up at the Balrog, having no idea what to do. Standing their ground wasn't working, but running wouldn't do any good either. Gothmog smirked and decided to take care of the rest of them. Running over, he used the natural speed this body had. The elves didn't stand a chance as he used a mix of dark magic and quick slashes with his sword. A few minutes later all the elves were dead. The Balrog flew over the city, burning it, before landing next to Gothmog.

"That was fun," Gothmog said.

The Balrog nodded and growled.

Gothmog gave him a smile. "Should we return to Barad-Dur, or find someone else to go after?"

_Let's go somewhere else,_ Silvond said telepathically. _Where do you suggest we go?_

Gothmog shrugged. He had no idea what would be the best place to go.

"We could make sure there's nobody else around here that can go against us."

_There isn't,_ the Balrog said. _I already checked. We could conquer the rest of Middle-Earth easily now._

Gothmog nodded. "Where do you suppose we should go then?"

Silvond thought about it. _Let's take care of the dwarves._

After a nod, Gothmog put his weapon away. It would be a while before they found the dwarves. If they could figure out where they were. He looked at the Balrog. "I have heard that the dwarves have the great city of Moria in in the Misty Mountains. Should we go there?"

The Balrog nodded, putting its weapons away.

"Are you going to stay in that form?" Gothmog asked.

Silvond nodded.

"At least there won't be many things bound to attack us." Gothmog looked around, trying to decide what direction would be the fastest way to the Misty Mountains.

The Balrog growled and lifted Gothmog onto its shoulder, then spread its wings and flew into the air towards the Misty Mountains.


	34. The Balrog

Chapter 34: The Balrog

They reached the Misty Mountains within a few hours. Silvond saw the entrance to the Mines of Moria and landed, setting the Orc down. Gothmog walked up to the Door and tried to push it Balrog roared and used its ax to bash the door in. It walked inside, followed by two looked around as they made their way inside. They came upon a large city build inside the mountain itself. The Balrog let out an ear-shattering roar to announce its dwarves reacted automatically, some coming over to see what was going on. Their eyes widened in fear as they saw the Balrog. A few dwarves hurried away to warn the great of the city.

Gothmog sneered and stood back to watch Silvond do the work. Silvond moved forward, pulling out his weapons. The dwarves were ready but the Balrog was more powerful than they imagined. It roared and swung its ax, killing some of the dwarves. They yelled and tried to fight back. Suddenly the king, Durin, came forwards. Silvond looked at him and growled.

Durin had an expression of determination on his face. The Balrog growled and moved forwards, taking out its whip and cracking it on the ground near the dwarf king. He stood his ground, getting his weapon ready. Silvond growled and then attacked the dwarf king, who fought back with determination. The Balrog roared; Durin would dare challenge it? Silvond was far too powerful. Durin glanced at the other dwarves, not wanting any more of his people to get killed. He brandished his ax and charged the Balrog.

The Balrog roared, swinging his own axe at the dwarf. Durin tried to avoid it but the ax hit him in the chest. The dwarf fell under the blow. The Balrog growled and advanced on the fallen dwarf, ax raised to kill him. Durin glared up at the Balrog as he moved to the side and avoided the ax. Silvond growled again and brought his ax down upon Durin. Durin was too late to avoid this swing. The axe buried into Durin's chest. He gasped in pain and then fell to the ground, dead. The other dwarves were enraged, more than a few of them foolishly running forward to avenge their fallen king. The Balrog roared, causing the other dwarves to stop in their tracks. Suddenly, they ran away and the Balrog followed them, making the entire city rumble as it took massive steps. The shaking was causing the mountain to start crumble.

Gothmog looked around at the crumbling city, wondering if it had been a bad idea to come here after all. Looking back at Silvond, he figured there was no way of stopping the Balrog now. He ran after Silvond but the Balrog was determined to end the dwarvish race once and for all. It continued down the city.

"Silvond, come back!" The Orc yelled. Gothmog ran after him, unsure of whether or not it was a good idea. "Let the mountain take care of them!" he shouted.

The Balrog looked back at the hedgehog and continued further down the mountain. It saw the dwarves and roared, then cracked its whip and hit them all. The dwarves hadn't stood a chance. They burst into flame despite their armor, screaming as they were burnt alive. Unfortunatly, the resulting shockwave from the whip caused the city to crumble around the Balrog. It growled and tried to head back the way it came. Gothmog watched as Silvord started to walk towards him.

Gothmog hoped Silvond would be able to reach him before something worse happened. He waved for him to hurry, watching the crumbling city. Suddenly, a massive wall crumbled to the ground, trapping the Balrog inside. Gothmog lurched forward a moment before looking at the ground. He had to leave if he wanted to get out. But he didn't want to just leave Silvond. He looked around, debating if he should leave or help Silvrond. Moving forward, he decided to try and help Silvond.

"Are you all right over there?" he yelled.

All that came was a growl. _I'm fine,_ the Balrog said telepathically. _I can't get through, and this city is crumbling around us._

Gothmog gulped. "What will you do?"

_I'll stay here,_ he telepathically said. _There's bound to be somewhere I can stay farther in the mines._

Gothmog's eyes widened. "Will you stay here forever? What about conquering Middle-Earth?"

_I can't help you anymore._

"But Silvond... can't you find another way out?"

_I can look._ The Balrog growled on the other side of the rubble.

Gothmog nodded and waited. Silvond looked at the rubble in front of him. Trying to move it might be too dangerous, but he looked for a way to do it anyway. Minutes passed as he tried to find another way out. The Balrog sighed; he couldn't find one.

_I can't find one,_ he telepathically called to Gothmog again.

The hedgehog gulped and sighed, wondering what Silvond was going to do. He was the dark Lord, after all, and needed to conquer Middle-Earth. But if he was trapped in the Mines of Moria...what would happen?

"Is your Balrog transformation permanent, or can you change back?" He asked.

Silvond concentrated on changing back, trying not to let his thoughts drift to being stuck there. He groaned in pain and tried to turn back to normal. After a few minutes, all he had achieved was a headache. Silvond growled again. _I can't change back._

Gothmog sighed. What were they doing now? Silvond sighed as well.

"Well...what are you going to do? Stay here in the Mines of Moria forever? You're the Dark Lord; you have to conquer Middle-Earth!" Gothmog said.

_There may be another way out, deeper in the mines. _Silvond turned to look at the city behind him. He was still growling in irritation. _I guess I'll just have to live here from now on,_ the Balrog said. _Maybe someday I'll find a way out._

Gothmog hesitated. "Do you want me to come with you, or..."

_No._ The Balrog shook his head. _You should return to Mordor. I'm sure you can handle it._

The hedgehog sighed and nodded. "Well then, I wish you luck," he said. Gothmog laid his hand on the pile of rubble, a sad expression on his face before turning and leaving. Before he left, he heard the Balrog retreat deeper into the mines and heard its voice in his head.

_I'll be fine, Dad. Just go conquer Middle-Earth._

Gothmog sighed and nodded. He knew that Silvond was a Balrog forever now and had to live here, but...nothing felt the same without him.


	35. Confronting the Balrog

Chapter 35: Confronting the Balrog

Gothmog left the Mines of Moria. Directing himself back to Mordor, he sighed. All of his family had left him now, and all he could do was succeed in what they had asked of him. He just wasn't sure he could do it alone. He sighed and walked into Barad-Dur. Sighing, he spoke. "Silvond's stuck in the Mines of Moria as a Balrog." Gothmog sat in the throne, unhappy with himself. "I'm not sure I can do this without the two of you."

Barad-Dur remained silent. Gothmog sighed; he had to do something. Suddenly, he he held his head in pain as Shadic took control.

Shadic smiled once he'd taken control of Gothmog. "What's been done so far?" he asked.

_We took care of the elves,_ Gothmog said telepathically. _Is there any way for Silvond to get out of the Mines?_

Shadic thought. He wasn't sure. Maybe there was another entrance somewhere? "Do you know if there are any other entrances?"

_I am not sure. There may be one by Kazad-Dum. But Silvond seemed pretty happy there, so...what shall we do?_

"We could send some Nazgul..." Shadic fell silent, remembering how the Nazgul disliked fire. "Never mind."

_What about Orcs?_ Gothmog asked. Then he remembered that Orcs were afraid of Balrogs.

Shadic did not like this situation. His son was having difficulties, and he had no idea how to help him.

_What about the ring on his finger?_

Shadic nodded. That could help them to some extent. "Which ring?"

_The ring that Sonic transformed into,_ Gothmog's voice said.

"You think Mom could help?" Shadic sounded a little hopeful.

_The ring is on Silvond's finger, even as a Balrog. We found it in the pinnacle and took it out. Hope you don't mind. We didn't want to damage you._

"It's all right. I don't need it any more."

Gothmog regained control, and sighed. He looked at his own ring. Contacting Sonic would be difficult enough as it was. The hedgehog closed his eyes, trying to communicate with Sonic. The ring helped him eventually reach the other.

"Sonic?"

The other ring around the Balrog's finger glowed. _Yes? What is it?_

"We need help with Silvond," he said.

_He is trying to find a way out,_ the ring said. _Unfortunately, he's lost. These mines are like a maze. He may have to stay here and make the mines his new home if he doesn't get out soon._

"Can you help him at all?"

_I might be able to show him the way out. It won't be easy, though. His mind is fast becoming a Balrog's mentally._

Gothmog didn't like the sound of that. He sighed.

"So we're going to lose him soon then. Could you try until he's gone?"

_Yes, I can,_ Sonic's voice said. Gothmog sat in the throne again, putting his head in his hands as he waited. A few minutes later, he heard Sonic's voice once more. _He's become the Balrog. There's nothing I can do._

Gothmog's eyes widened and he sighed. He didn't know what do do. Gothmog wondered how he should continue. He doubted his own powers would be enough for him to accomplish what they'd set out to do. Perhaps he could use his dark magic to transform someone into Silvond. He sighed; Gothmog didn't know. He closed his eyes and teleported into the Mines of Moria, looking around for Silvond.

The mines were huge, but there wasn't much to worry about other than getting lost. Unfortunately, that also meant it was difficult to find Silvond. Gothmog closed his eyes, focusing on his ring, telling it to help him find the Balrog. A few minutes later, a vision came to him. The Balrog was deep in the mines. Nothing else seemed to be around him. The hedgehog smiled and ran further into the mines, using his speed. Soon, he came upon the Balrog. It looked at him and growled.

"Silvond?" Gothmog addressed the Balrog, mostly to see if he would react at all.

The Balrog growled even more and advanced towards Gothmog. Gothmog backed away, unwilling to fight him unless absolutely necessary. The hedgehog wondered what to do. He didn't want to hurt Silvond. Fighting could possibly help, but the Balrog was perfectly capable of killing him. He closed his eyes, wondering what to do. Perhaps the ring could help Silvond regain his memories somehow. The Balrog growled even more, its ax and whip appearing. Gothmog focused on his ring, hoping it could help him figure out what to do. The ring glowed brightly and the Balrog growled.

"Please listen," Gothmog sent through the ring. "I need you to come back, Silvond." The Balrog growled some more and took another step towards the hedgehog. "Silvond, please," Gothmog said, wondering what the balrog was going to do.

He glanced behind himself, hoping he could get away if he had to. The Balrog continued toward him as he backed away again. He drew his own weapon. The Balrog let out a loud roar and raised its ax. Gothmog moved out of its way. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this. He sighed and backed away. There had to be a way to get Silvond to come back. Looking at the ring again, he cursed the fact that he'd never had the chance to learn how to properly use the ring's powers.

The Balrog let out a loud roar, wondering what the hedgehog was doing in its territory. Gothmog frowned and sighed. Silvond really was lost. He focused on his ring once again, harder.

"Come on," Gothmog pleaded. "Work."

The ring on his finger glowed, as did the two rings on Silvond's fingers. The Balrog roared as the rings glowed. It held its head in pain as its eyes flickered between white and violet. Gothmog kept focusing, wondering if he should say something more.

He looked at the Balrog and spoke. "Please, come back. I need you to remember."

The Balrog's eyes flickered again as it looked at Gothmog, who stared up at it in determination.

"Remember me, Silvond?" he asked. "I'm your father. There's no reason to attack me."

The Balrog continued to growl in pain. Seeing it in pain made Gothmog want to stop. But if he did, the Balrog would most likely attack him. A few minutes later, the Balrog's eyes changed back to white. Gothmog frowned at the sight. He had lost his son. The Balrog roared and began to attack. Gothmog dodged, countering whenever the Balrog gave him the chance. He just made sure the damage wasn't enough to kill him.

He grimaced, wondering what to do. His son was gone, and the Balrog had replaced him forever. Gothmog attacked but it only made the Balrog angrier. As the battle continued, Gothmog felt guilt for what he was doing welling up inside him. He closed his eyes and sent a powerful dark magic blast towards Silvond, hoping it would bring the Balrog to its senses. The Balrog moved back with the blast. It roared loudly and grew even angrier. The Balrog growled in pain once more. Gothmog looked behind himself again. He had time to get away before the Balrog attacked him again. Giving it one last look, he turned and ran.

The Balrog roared. It attempted to follow him, but decided not to, and walked deeper into the mines.


	36. The Beginning of the End

Chapter 36: The Beginning of the End  


Gothmog exited the mines a while later. He looked back yet again before setting off to Mordor. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell Shadic what had happened. The hedgehog sighed and appeared back in Barad-Dur. He looked around and thought about what happened as tears came to his eyes. He had lost his son. Perhaps he could use his magic to transform someone into Silvond.

"Maybe I shouldn't," he muttered. He sat in the throne heavily. "After everything's that happened, I wouldn't be able to bear it if something happened to him too." He sighed and started to sob, then spoke to the fortress, hoping it would hear him. "I'm sorry, Shadic. I couldn't do anything to save Silvond, and I can't continue this without the two of you. There's no point to it if I don't have my family to share it with."

Gothmog continued to cry. A few minutes later, one of the Orcs came in and bowed before him.

"Shall we continue conquering Middle-Earth?" The Orc asked.

Gothmog looked up, not bothering to try and stop his tears. He didn't know what to do any more. Staring at the other Orc, he sighed. "Yes...we shall. I have a favor to ask you...would it be okay if I transformed you into my son permanently?"

The Orc thought about it. Then he nodded. "If it will help you," he said. Gothmog gave the Orc a smile.

"Thank you," Gothmog said, and shot a spell at the Orc, who began to transform.

His body shrank to the same height Silvond had been. His muscle mass decreased and fur grew all over his body. The ears and tail forced themselves out of him as he sucked in a breath of air. Quills developed on his head, quickly growing out. His eyes were deep red, and he had a grimace on his new face. The horns he'd had on his head shifted to between his ears. He groaned and looked up at Gothmog, who smiled.

"It's nice to see him again. Do you still have your own mind?"

"Yeah, I do. Why? Did you want a mental change?"

Gothmog shook his head. "It's all right," he said. "We need to come up with a plan."

Silvond nodded. "What should we do?"

Gothmog sighed. "We need to conquer Middle-Earth. We've taken care of the elves. There are likely more dwarves somewhere, and the humans have yet to be conquered."

"Alright; I'll help. I am Silvond from now on, anyway. What happened to the original?"

"He got stuck in the Mines of Moria as a Balrog," he explained.

The transformed hedgehog nodded. "What will happen to him?"

"I don't know," Gothmog shrugged. "He'll probably take control of the mines."

"I see."

Gothmog looked around the room, wondering if the Nazgul had gotten back yet. He sighed and looked at Silvond, then frowned. His son was back, but he still felt sad. Perhaps a mental change would be the best. "A mental change might be best after all," he told the ex-Orc.

The transformed hedgehog nodded. "Very well," he said, and waited.

Gothmog focused on the ring he wore, hoping to get it right. Once he believed he was ready, he placed his hand on the other's head. The energy flowed from him into the other as he concentrated on changing his mind to Silvond's. The transformed hedgehog groaned in pain, feeling his mind change. Gothmog put his hand down and waited. A few seconds later, Silvond looked up. He looked around, confused.

"How are you?" Gothmog asked.

"I'm...fine," Silvond said. "What happened?"

"You got stuck in the Mines of Moria. Your mind was lost to the Balrog you'd changed into and I couldn't get you out."

The hedgehog nodded. "I remember that. Its mind...is still connected to mine; I can feel it. The Balrog part of me apparently is living in the mines, using them as a home."

"Will that affect you at all?" Gothmog was worried about his son.

Silvond thought about it. "Possibly," he said. "What do you mean by that?"

"Having its mind connected to yours. Won't that affect you in some way?"

"I would think so. The Balrog is part of me, after all."

Gothmog nodded. He'd expected as much when Silvond had mentioned it.

Silvond smiled. "So, shall we resume conquering Middle-Earth? I am the Dark Lord, after all."

Gothmog returned his smile. "Of course."

"All right. We already took care of the dwarfs and elves; all that's left are the humans."

"Did you want to use the Nazgul and Orcs as well?

Silvond nodded. "I'm powerful on my own now that I have these two rings. It won't take long."

Gothmog nodded, grinning evilly. "Well then, let's finish this."

The two left to make preparations for what was ahead. Gothmog followed behind Silvond, promising himself he wouldn't ever let something happen to him again.

We already took care of Minas Tirith," Silvond said. "All that's left are the other human kingdoms. Once they fall, Middle-Earth will be ours forever."

"Are we going to leave any of the humans alive?" Gothmog asked.

"No, of course not. All of the races must be extinguished."

Gothmog smirked. Without anyone on Middle-Earth, their rule would go unchallenged. All they had to do was bring the inevitable destruction upon the humans. "Lead the way," he said.

Silvond nodded. He transformed into a Balrog, put Gothmog on his shoulder, and took to the sky.


	37. Conquering Middle-Earth

Chapter 37: Conquering Middle-Earth

Gothmog watched as they flew, wondering which city Silvond planned on attacking first. The Balrog soon came upon Rohan and let out a loud roar. Gothmog watched as the Balrog set fire to the town. The people living in the city screamed as they came under attack. Silvond roared again as he landed and started to use his ax and whip. The humans tried organize themselves and attack, but it did them no good Gothmog attacked alongside Silvond, not giving the humans a chance to organize anything. They continued to attack the city. Soon, Rohan lay in ruins and every person was dead. Silvond roared in victory, and then clutched his head in pain as his eyes turned from red to white.

"You should change back to normal," Gothmog said. Worry was in every part if him, not wanting it to happen all over again.

Silvond nodded and tried to. He growled in pain but something was blocking him from changing. Gothmog's eyes widened as he realized that Silvond was having difficulties. He didn't want to lose him again, he'd just gotten him back. The Balrog growled angrily.

Gothmog sighed, thinking about what he could do. "We may as well resume killing the humans."

Silvond nodded. Gothmog looked at Silvond, worried about what would happen. The two left the ruined city in search of their next target. Soon, they came to Numenor. The two attacked, once again not giving the humans a chance to defend themselves. Minutes later, the city was destroyed.

"Only a few more cities left," Gothmog told the Balrog. "Then the land of Middle-Earth shall be ours forever." He looked at the Balrog as he spoke. "Maybe you should change back."

The Balrog nodded and tried to but once again he couldn't. Gothmog sighed. That was what he was afraid of. Silvond looked at him and growled angrily.

"What's wrong?" he asked Silvond.

The Balrog growled some more. _I'm not sure,_ he said telepathically.

With both unsure of what was going on, Gothmog was nervous. Silvond wasn't going through the same thing...was he? If he could just figure out how to change him back to normal, everything would be better. Gothmog sighed; he didn't know. But they couldn't think about it now; they had a land to conquer.

"Where to next?" It didn't really matter where they went; all the humans were going to die any way. But he liked to know.

_Most of the human cities are destroyed now, so it doesn't really matter,_ Silvond said telepathically.

"All right. Let's just go."

The Balrog nodded and flew off. The two wiped out what remaining humans they found. Gothmog and Silvond sneered. They had finally done it. All of the races: men, dwarfs and elves, had been obliterated. Finally, they were in control of Middle-Earth.

Gothmog looked at Silvond. "We've done it," he said. "Transform back and we'll return to Mordor." The Balrog nodded and tried to transform back. Gothmog watched, hoping for the best. Silvond growled in pain. Gothmog's eyes widened. "Can't you transform back?"

The Balrog shook his head, still growling. Gothmog sighed, wondering why this was happening all over again. Was it because Silvond's mind was connected to the Balrog in the Mines of Moria that was part of him? Gothmog fingered the ring he wore, wishing it could help them. It hadn't done anything last time.

He closed his eyes and focused as the ring started to glow.

"Work this time," he prayed.

The Balrog growled in pain and fell to the ground, holding his head. Gothmog rushed over to him, still partly focusing on the ring. Silvond continued to growl in pain, wondering what was happening to him. He could hear his other part's voice in his head.

_We must become one,_ it said. _We are the same person, after all. _Silvond groaned in pain as he heard the other Balrog's words. _Don't fight it._

The Balrog growled some more. He looked at Gothmog, wondering what to do.

"Come back," Gothmog said to him. "Stay here with me. If you try hard enough, I'm sure you can change back to yourself."

Silvond was confused; he didn't know what to do. As cheesy as he thought it would be, Gothmog extended his hand to Silvond. "I don't want to lose you again." The Balrog growled at him and held his head, the other's voice continuing. What was he going to do?

Silvond reached a hand out to his father. Gothmog sighed in relief and got on Silvond's shoulder. The Balrog took to the sky and flew back to Mordor.


	38. The Corruption of Middle-Earth

Chapter 38: The Corruption of Middle-Earth  


Once they landed there, Gothmog was overjoyed as he ran into the fortress.

"It worked," he yelled at Barad-Dur. He knew it couldn't speak but at least it could hear him. "Silvond's with us again." Gothmog held his son close. The Balrog looked at Gothmog and nodded. "I just wish you could change to normal."

Silvond closed his eyes and concentrated hard, hoping he could change back. Gothmog looked at him sadly. He didn't want him to force himself if he couldn't do it. A few minutes later, the Balrog's form began to change slightly. Gothmog noticed and moved forward a bit. Happiness had come to his eyes. He smiled as the transformation continued. The Balrog shrank as Silvond 's features returned to him.

When the transformation finished, Silvond stood there. Gothmog walked over to him, smile on his face. "How do you feel?"

"I...I'm fine," Silvond said. "Well, Middle-Earth is ours now. What shall we do?"

Gothmog hesitated. He'd never given much thought to what he would do afterwards. Except live together with Shadic. Obviously, that was out of the question.

"We'll think of something," he said.

Silvond nodded and smiled. "Perhaps we can enslave some of the people living here."

"Then we wouldn't have to do anything ourselves. Good idea."

"All right. Let's do that. Let us show the people of Middle-Earth who is in charge," Silvond said. "The Dark Lord will rule forever. If anyone dares challenge me, they shall be killed."

"Are you going to do it yourself or send someone else to do it?"

The Dark Lord sneered. "I'll do it myself. Since we are immortal, we can rule the land for all eternity."

"If they're smart, they'll never rise against you."

Silvond nodded. "Come, Gothmog. It is time to start out rule over this land."

Gothmog followed the Dark Lord. He went across Mordor, enslaving people. The Dark Lord sneered as his evil reign was beginning. He went across Mordor, enslaving people. The Dark Lord sneered as his evil reign was beginning. Gothmog watched with pride, helping Silvond any way he could. Once all the people who survived were enslaved, the Dark Lord turned to Gothmog and chuckled evilly, then spoke.

"We've finally done it." He smiled. "I'm in control of Middle-Earth. No one can stand against us, and we can stay in control forever."

Gothmog nodded and smiled. "What shall we do now?"

Silvond was about to answer when he heard the Balrog's voice in his head again. _You've conquered Middle-Earth, now come join together with me._

The Dark Lord's eyes widened and he tried to resist. "No," he snarled. "I want to stay here with my family." The Balrog's voice grew to a roar. Gothmog looked at his son in worry. He couldn't lose him again. "What will happen if I fuse with you?" Silvond asked the Balrog telepathically.

_We will be complete again._

Silvond thought about it. "I guess it would be nice to be complete again," he said.

Gothmog's eyes widened. "Silvond...no, please! I thought you wanted to rule over Middle-Earth as the dark Lord for all eternity!"

Silvond looked at him. "I'd rather be whole again than two separate bodies," he said.

"But..." The hedgehog sighed. He knew it had been a bad idea for him to turn the Orc into Silvond. "You won't remember anything, will you?"

Silvond shrugged. "I don't know, dad. I...I'm sorry, but I don't see any other alternative. Maybe you can do the same when I fuse."

"The same?" Gothmog was confused as to what exactly Silvond meant.

"Transform into something permanently. Maybe become Mount Doom."

Gothmog sighed. "All right then. At least I won't be alone."

Silvond smiled and nodded. "I'll see you later, dad."

Gothmog smiled back. Silvond sighed and closed his eyes. Soon, they were in the Mines of Moria with the Balrog. It looked at him. Gothmog stayed behind Silvond, letting him handle it. The Balrog moved closer to Silvond.

_You are ready to become one?_ It said.

The Dark Lord nodded. "I am. What will happen once we do?"

_That body will cease to live. Our minds will merge and become one again._

Silvond sighed. Was he doing the right thing? He looked back at Gothmog, now having second thoughts. The Dark Lord wasn't sure if he should do this. He looked between the two as he thought of what to do. "Dad...what do you think I should do?" He asked Gothmog.

"I think you shouldn't do this. I don't want to lose you again." Gothmog knew it might sound selfish, but it was the truth.

Silvond sighed and closed his eyes, thinking about it. After a few minutes, he opened them and came to a decision. "I'm going to become one with him," he said. Silvond smiled at Gothmog. "I'll be fine."

Gothmog's eyes widened and he sighed. "Very well," he said.

Silvond smiled and walked up to the Balrog, placing a hand on its body. The Balrog softly growled and looked down at Silvond. It knelt in front of him, waiting for the Dark Lord to become one. A bright glow came from the Balrog, engulfing Silvond with light. When it faded, Silvond was gone. The Balrog stood up and looked around. It saw Gothmog and growled.

Gothmog stared up at it, wondering what the Balrog was thinking. The Balrog growled again and looked around the mine. It looked at the hedgehog, and then turned away, walking deeper in the mines. Gothmog gave him a wave and watched it leave. Once the Balrog was out of view, he transported himself back to Mordor. He looked around at the sights. Barad-Dur was there, but Mount Doom was nowhere in sight. He sighed, thinking about what Silvond had told him. The hedgehog went over to the place where Mount Doom was supposed to be. He closed his eyes and began to transform.

Heat boiled in his body as he concentrated. He felt his feet becoming part of the ground as he stood there. The rock under him shifted in reaction to the energy, coming up onto his legs. The heat intensified as the rock moved. Spreading outward, the rock angled up as it expanded and grew. Gothmog took a deep breath. His body was hardening, becoming rock and making it hard for him to do anything more. Before the day ended, he'd be with Shadic and Silvond. That thought increased his determination, speeding up the process.

The rock continued spreading across the ground, setting the foundation for the volcano. His body grew larger, the ground moving farther away each second. Gothmog closed his eyes and waited. His arms went out to his sides, spreading out. The stone spread, filling in the gaps. Crumbling outer pieces formed the terrain of the mountain, a cave opening in the side. Gothmog gave one last sigh as the stone extended above his head, forming the tip of the mountain. The heat bubbled upward through the mountain before blowing the top of in an explosion of lava.

Gothmog and Shadic had both become part of Mordor permanently; Gothmog was Mount Doom, and Shadic was Barad-Dur. In that sense, they were still together. Silvond had become the Balrog that was living in the Mines of Moria also. Because of the transformations, evil energy was in the land. It moved through, corrupting all of Middle-Earth. In a way, the Dark Lords had done what they set out to do. They had corrupted Middle-Earth and conquered it. Now, they would be able to rule over the land for all eternity, and no one would be able to stop them.


End file.
